


Puppy Love

by Happyscarlet



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/F, KyouHaba - Freeform, M/M, Multi, Veterinarian/ dad kyoutani, puppy owner Yahaba, side iwaoi, side kiyoyachi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-07-16 09:09:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7261852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Happyscarlet/pseuds/Happyscarlet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His puppy Mochi hasn't gone to the bathroom in three days and Shigeru is really freaking out. So he rushes himself and his pooch to the closest animal hospital. A place that leaves a bad taste in his mouth. But he finds himself using their services and he has to admit, Kyoutani Kentarou and the rest of the staff seem to know what they're doing... But the customer service still sucks!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry about the long wait, this chapter was hard for me to write for some reason but it was still fun. I might need to do some serious editing but I don't have time and I really wanted this to get out there.  
> P.S. Thanks for the kudos and comments!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's better then pups? Kyouhaba, pups, and an adorable little girl. That's what.

Shigeru felt his heart beating frantically as he flew down the road to reach the nearest animal hospital. He kept his little Chow chow puppy, Mochi, clutched to his chest and feels a wave of relief when he sees the telltale veterinary sign just down the street. He quickly makes his way to the building and bursts in holding a squirming puppy in his arms.  
The waiting room was empty and for one moment he considered himself, and his pooch to be quite lucky.  
That greatful feeling vanishes as soon as he steps forward to the receptionist's desk. There, standing behind the desk, on the chair, was a little girl who didn't look a day over five years old, scowling at him expectantly. Her ink black hair shone under the waiting room lights framing her face, her features were soft and pretty, a small button nose, pouty lips, large eyes framed with long thick lashes, no doubt she SHOULD be cute. Her eyes however were a jarring color of brown that seemed to slip into maroon, and her scowl was so severe that it had no place being on a face that young. Maybe it would've amusing at another time but all Shigeru felt was exasperation. He was about to ask her to get an adult when she spoke.  


"Appointment?"

Shigeru blinked surprised at the little girl's casual question. 

"What?"

The girl's expression dropped as she leveled him with an unimpressed look.

"Did you make an appointment?"

Shigeru shook his head feeling like he was in the twilight zone. "No but my dog hasn't gone to the bathroom in three days." Why was he talking to this little girl and why was she acting like a receptionist? Where were her parents? 

"Poop or pee or both?"

"She hasn't pooped- look I really need to speak to an adu-"

The girl paid him no mind and kept trucking right along.

"Name please?"

"Yahaba Shigeru" 

The girl looked at him like he was stupid for the second time in the past few minutes.

"I meant the dog."

Yahaba was growing more and more irritated, "Mochi, and what kind of place is this? Where are your parents?"

The little girl ignored his questions grabbing a small travel sized notebook jotting things down in pink crayon. Then she held up her finger at Shigeru (REALLY?!) and she dialed a number on the phone and waited patiently before talking into the receiver. 

"Old man you have a patient up front."

She then hung up and looked to Mochi and leaned over precariously to pet him. Mochi seemed to relax a bit and the girl seemed to as well.

Shigeru sighed, "What is your name?"

"Kyoutani Ima." 

Just then a man came out in scrubs and the most eye catching haircut he'd ever seen. Honestly the guy looked like a delinquent, he had yellow hair with two black stripes, a seemingly permanent scowl, and... Was that eyeliner?

The man ignored him and turned to the little girl behind the desk, "Ima Where's Yachi?"

His voice was gruff, Shiberu flinched worried that the little girl would start to cry , but she hardly reacted at all seemingly used to his harsh tone.

"I sent her on break, she kept messing up."

"You can't do that, you aren't her boss."

The girl made a show of rolling her eyes then tore out the paper from her small handheld notebook, jumping off the chair and out of view before coming out behind the desk and handing the paper to the veterinarian.

"Chow chow, less than a year old..." She seemed unsure about the age bit, "name's Mochi. She hasn't pooped in three days. The man's Yahaba Shigeru." 

The vet nodded his head, eyes lighting up, and the corner of his lip twitching, as he fought off a smile.

"Thanks brat," he ruffled her hair then proceeded to pull out a few small bills from his pants pocket and handed them to her. "Go to McDonald's and get a plain cheeseburger then hurry back here."

The little girl nodded furiously and went back behind the counter, where there was a metal jingling sound before she came back out with a large, intimidating looking pitbull and headed out the door.

Was that big old beast their office pet?

The veterinarian cleared his throat, "Let's go." He turned and quickly started walking to the back Shigeru following close behind. Miffed at how unprofessional this whole place seemed, why was his kid running the front? Why did he make a goddamn girl get him McDonald's when he was supposed to be taking a customer? Finally they made it to one of the plain rooms and the vet reached for Mochi, delicately placing her on one of those cold metal examination tables.

Shigeru was surprised how calmly his puppy was behaving, as Kyoutani quietly examined him and pressed lightly around the dogs stomach. During that Kyoutani began rattling off questions. Was Mochi up to date on her shots? Had Shigeru changed her diet? Did Mochi have any allergies? What did she last eat? Did she get into anything. But no, Mochi was the picture of health, Shigeru explained and she hadn't gotten into anything. 

The vet proceeded to run a normal check up, checking her temperature and listening to her heart and stomach through a stethoscope. As he took his time looking for abnormalities Shigeru's eyes jumped around nervously taking in the room and the veterinarian. His features were in a deep, intimidating scowl that looked like he would rather murder the dog then help it. However the man's mannerisms and gentle touches seemed to suggest the intense glare was more out of focus than anything else.

The vet cleared his throat standing straight (he was still shorter than Shigeru) 

"She seems healthy. I would like to keep her overnight and if she doesn't go to the bathroom by tomorrow morning we'll start taking ultrasounds and x-rays."

Shigeru looked down at Mochi, she was so small and fluffy her little tongue lolling to the side and her big dark eyes looking innocently up at him. He hated the idea of leaving her for the night, he hadn't been apart from her since he brought her home one night. This was for Mochi though, he wanted her to be safe.

"I want you to watch her."

"We will."

"No I mean YOU."

The vet blinks in surprise then nods his head. "Fine." 

Shigeru nodded satisfied, just than the door opened and the little girl, Ima walked in. 

"That was fast."

"You told me to be," the little girl replied making a serious expression and handing the vet the cheeseburger.

"Now hold on a second you are not fucking eating that cheeseburger!"

The vet ignored Shigeru's yelling and unwrapped the burger as little Ima stepped out. The vet then tore off a piece and fed it to Mochi. Shigeru grabbed the man's arm and spun him around so that he dropped the burger, Mochi danced around on the edge of the examination table unwilling to jump from the height but wanting more burger. Shigeru wasn't paying attention to that though he was glaring at the vet, "What the hell kind of place is this?! First you have a little girl working the receptionist desk, now you're feeding my dog a McDonald's cheeseburger? Are you even a real vet-" Shigeru pauses mid rant realizing he doesn't know the man's name and glances down at the name tag "-Kyoutani Kentarou?"

Kyoutani narrows his eyes and easily brushes Shigeru off before bending down and grabbing the burger continuing to feed it to Shigeru's happy, wiggly chow chow.

"Normally I would not suggest feeding a dog human food but your dog hasn't shit in three days, and this is honestly the best laxative."

Kyoutani focuses on the puppy and feeding it but Shigeru feels the anger rolling off the man in waves. Honestly he doesn't know if he could take Kyoutani on in a fight, the guy looks pretty athletic. 

"Do you want to keep your dog here overnight?"

"...Will you watch her?"

Kyoutani looks momentarily surprised his eyes wide and his mouth a bit open before regaining his composure (and his scowl) nodding quickly. 

"Yes."

Shigeru doesn't like the guy, but there's something about Kyoutani that makes him seem like he's to be trusted with animals (probably the whole being a vet thing). He nods at Kyoutani before turning to little Mochi. He's scooping her up in his arms and covering her in kisses. Mochi is squirming, and giving a few kisses of her own.

"Be a good girl for daddy okay? I'll be here first thing in the morning!" He kisses her nose and she licks his. Shigeru puts her down and pets her.

Kyoutani watches quietly before interjecting. "The first night of boarding doesn't cost anything and we'll call you if anything happens and we decide to give her medication, I highly doubt it will happen but just to let you know. Our receptionist Yachi should be back and she'll fill you in on all the details."

Shigeru nodded and pouted at his puppy but decided that he needed to leave quickly like ripping off a bandaid. So Shigeru quickly turned on his heel and left, he went to the front desk where a young cute woman with blonde short hair sat. He walked up and introduced himself then she went on to explain everything. Her eyes were wide and she seemed nervous, trying to make up for it by babbling, it was cute, she was like a little bird. He read over the papers handed to him carefully and when he decided he was fine with everything on the paper he signed them and handed them back to her. He tried to flirt with the girl Yachi, truthfully he was never very lucky with girls. It seemed to still be the case when the most beautiful woman he's ever seen came in, she had large blue eyes, thick long lashes, a small nose and pillowy lips. She seemed to tell instantly that Shigeru was hitting on the younger girl and the beautiful woman easily swept away Yachi's attention. The girl peeked over at Shigeru and told him how much he owed for the check up. Shigeru knew when he was beat so he sighed, paid and left for home.

The walk back was a lot longer than he remembered, he must've been booking it to make it there as fast as he did. Shigeru sighed as he walked down the empty roads, most of the shops and businesses closing for the night. Shigeru made his way down the quiet and peaceful street, then stopped at a local convenience store. A quiet bell (automated of course) sounded off as he entered through the automatic doors. Shigeru walked through the aisles locating the cheap ramen and frozen red bean buns, he hesitated in front of a bottle of sake momentarily before giving in and buying it, the sake would help him sleep after all.

So he gathered up the items he wished to purchase and went to the front counter paying the clerk before gathering up his bags and heading home. He tried not to think of how sad it was that he basically lived off convenience store food, he also tried not to worry about Mochi. He decided to busy his thoughts with work tomorrow. He was the girl's volleyball coach for Miyagi University and he busied his thoughts with possible drills they could run and players who needed to improve individually. He couldn't say that his team was great but they weren't bad either. He let his mind conjure up things associated with volleyball, the weight of a volleyball on your fingertips, the smell of salonpas, the sight of the large tournament stadiums. Just like that it seemed he'd already made it back to the apartment.

It wasn't the greatest place, Shigeru's apartment was small, it was tidy but boring and impersonal, and now it was empty too, save for Shigeru. He kicked his front door closed with his foot and proceeded into the kitchen dropping the bags of food in the kitchen. He grabbed a pan filling it with water and boiling it on the stove, then set about preheating the oven and cracked open the box of red bean paste buns, setting two on a cookie sheet. He then grabbed the bag of dog food from under the sink and- oh right.

Okay so Shigeru didn't have a bad life, he he had a job he loved, got along with his colleagues and the girls on his team, he HAD friends (even if he didn't see them very often) and he wasn't unfortunate looking. However often times he was lonely, he lived alone and had no romantic prospects, he remembered walking down the street past a pet store and seeing a small floof of a puppy in the window of a pet shop. Now, Shigeru knew buying from a pet shop was wrong but honestly he'd never even considered getting a pet, not until that moment. He doesn't know what came over him, maybe it was because he had just ended a phone call with Oikawa, his successful senpai from college, maybe because he hadn't seen his mother in awhile, maybe it was because Mochi was just so damned cute. He went into the store and came out with a limited number of pet supplies. Training her was still a challenge, she was into everything, was really just starting potty training. Yet for all the trouble the cute little puppy caused Mochi also cuddled Shigeru on the couch, and made him laugh with her antics, she pushed away the loneliness and lied with him in bed. 

Shigeru took the noodles off the burner and got the red bean paste buns out from the oven. He set the table, grabbed a bowl, and then sat down, and started eating. He didn't eat that much and just put the leftovers in containers and put it in the fridge. He took his shower, changed into his pajamas, and lied down in bed setting his alarm. He hoped sleep would find him, he hoped Kyoutani would take care of her, he hoped Mochi was alright.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shigeru stops by the veterinary hospital to check on Mochi but gets a surprise peak at Kyoutani and his daughter's life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter is really dumb and self-indulgent.

Soft morning light streamed through white curtains, casting the room in a hazy morning glow. The room was tiny and orderly and the man cuddled in the bed looked ethereal in his slumber. The man was cocooned in his over-abundance of blankets, just on the right side of too warm. Long lashes kissed rosy cheeks, soft pleasing features arranged into a youthful peace, and soft, brown, fluffy hair tousled around him like a halo.  
Then Shigeru's alarm went off.  
All peace was shattered instantly as he smacked his phone, hoping, in his sleep deprived state, that it would make the alarm stop. It didn't, but he did succeed in cracking his phone's screen...again. Shigeru sighed and got up blearily taking minutes to actually reach the alarm and shut it off. His neighbors are probably pissed, but Shigeru doesn't really have the energy to care. He goes about his morning routine quickly he strips out of his boxers and goes into the shower washing his hair and body methodically. He stepped out wrapping a towel around his waist, and plugging in his blow drier. He puts gel in his hair and starts up the blow drier while combing his hair, until it finally looked to his specifications. He then cleansed his face and brushed his teeth, toothbrush still in his mouth, Shigeru heads to his room and grabs a pair of sweatpants and his coaching jersey as well as a turquoise t-shirt. He than rushes back into the bathroom and spits than proceeds to get dressed before reaching for his phone and checking the time. It's five thirty am and he has no time to eat and so he grabs his keys, and rushes out the door.  
He makes it to the bus stop near his apartment and a few stops later he's at the animal hospital. It looks dark inside and he realizes like an idiot that the place is most likely closed. He looks up the number to the animal hospital and almost gives up after three rings but just then he hears a rough voice answer.  
" Kyoutani Animal Hospital, Kyoutani Kentarou speaking."  
Yahaba's surprised to find his breath catch in reaction to the voice, naturally low and tone biting, but even lower and rougher with fatigue. He swallows and proceeds on because really, he's too old to get excited by a voice. He remembers Mochi's who he is here for and pulls himself together.  
"Sorry yes, my name is Yahaba Shigeru, I'm here to check on my puppy Mochi? I brought her in last night and-"  
"I remember," the voice cuts in then grunts, and there is some shuffling heard in the background, some curses and a loud thump. "Just give me a minute, I'll come down. Fuck Nan, yeah I'll feed you in a minute."  
Shugeru raises his eyebrow, "Yeah, sure, thanks." He then hangs up and waits outside the building watching the cars go by, he sees a coffee shop nearby and wonders if he can make it there before practice. Probably not. He sighs, and notices movement out of the corner of his eye and turns just in time to see Kyoutani Kentarou, the vet from the other night and the voice he's just heard, now making his way to the front and unlocking the door and peeking his head out before turning to Shigeru, holding the door open for him.  
"Hurry up we aren't supposed to be open."  
"What a gentleman," Shigeru says dryly walking past Kyoutani, he knows maybe he should be nice, or at least cordial but this guy's attitude gets under his skin. He sees Kyoutani's fist tighten in his hand, sees the flex go up his arm. When Shigeru really takes in Kyoutani he realizes he's wearing sweapants and a white undershirt that clings dangerously to a body which, is surprisingly muscular. Shigeru looks the man in his eyes, pleased to find that he can look down at him, even if there is hardly a height difference.  
"So how's Mochi?"  
Kyoutani narrows his eyeliner- less eyes at him, his scowl somehow growing all the more severe. "Mochi's good, she seems to be fine." He hands him a box of medicine, "just in case you can buy some of this. She seemed to have had trouble passing part of a toy she had eaten."  
Shigeru frowned and paid, "She's fine? Nothing else wrong with her stomach?"  
Kyoutani looked him in the eye a moment, Shigeru felt uncomfortable under the stare but didn't dare look away, finally after a few weirdly tense moments Kyoutani turned away and mumbled. "Nothing's wrong with her. So you want to pay and then we can bring out Mochi?"  
Shigeru paused for a moment, "Well actually is there any way you can hold her for the day?"  
  
Kyoutani's nose wrinkles in displeasure, "Why did you make me get up if you couldn't pick her up?"  
Yahaba crosses his arms, "Well I want to see her I just can't bring her home now. Has anyone ever told you you have an attitude problem?"  
Kyoutani doesn't answer, not that he has to. He than sighs through his nose and turns and walks away, "Come on." Shigeru follows them through what looks like a back area that smells very much like animal. Then Kyoutani leads him through a narrow hallway, up a set of stairs, and to a door that he unceremoniously pushes open. Kyoutani walks through what must be his apartment. They make their way through a small kitchen/ living room area. He can see little personal touches everywhere, small knickknacks scattered about, kids drawings littering the fridge, a toy here and there. It's not overly cluttered but it feels surprisingly comfortable especially compared to Shigeru's apartment. Shigeru and kyoutani are greeted by the great office beast pit bull. She looks even more intimidating now but she goes over to her owner and nudges him with her nose. She then looks at Shigeru and trots over sniffing him. Shigeru looks a bit unsure then bites his lip and pats her head.  
"You shouldn't approach her like that, Nan is pretty forgiving but if you're petting a new dog you shouldn't reach over their head like that. Makes 'em nervous."  
"Oh okay," Shigeru responds continuing to pet her, "Nan huh? It's good to meet you." When Shigeru looks up he notices Kyoutani staring at him his look intense, his body posture rigid. Is he not supposed to pet the dog? Shigeru waits for Kyoutani to stop boring holes into him, but Kyoutani makes no pretenses, so, for the sake of avoiding awkwardness Shigeru decides to play nice.  
"So is Mochi here? Or are you actually planning on sicking your dog on me?"  
Kyoutani rolls his eyes frowning before turning on his heel and heading down a hall past the bathroom. He slowly creaks open a door on the right before heading in. He doesn't bother to follow Kyoutani in but he does peak his head through the door. He isn't prepared.  
There's a sliding glass door that leads out onto a porch. It doesn't provide a great view but it has a little table and two chairs, it's also overflowing with plants of all different kinds. All healthy. Shigeru has to assume this is due to some form of magic. There's also pictures littering the walls, some of places, some of people, and plenty of Kyoutani's daughter. Shigeru doesn't pay too much attention to the pictures, doesn't bother looking them over. He sees a volleyball on the floor, some weights and the ugliest stuffed animal he's ever seen. Then he looks to the bed and he sees the little girl from the other day curled up on the bed. Her face is completely relaxed, long dark lashes spilling over her cheeks, black short hair curling at the ends, in her arms she's holding little Mochi who seems more than comfortable. They're both cute. Shigeru feels a smile tugging at his lips. He looks over to Kyoutani and is shocked to see an unfurrowed brow, a small smile stretching over his lips, his eyes sparkling with something Shigeru can't quite name: love? peace? a combination? Whatever it is Kyoutani wears it well.  
Then Kyoutani catches Shigeru looking and turns away to reach over to his daughter but than Shigeru grabs Kyoutani's arm. Kyoutani jumps in surprise and whips his head around. Shigeru shakes his head and puts his finger to his lips, than heads out of the room and waits by the door unsure. Kyoutani follows Yahaba out, closing the bedroom door behind him.  
"So do you bring all the dogs up to your apartment?"  
Kyoutani scowls but he's scratching the back of his neck and looking down almost bashfully, " You asked me to watch him. Besides Ima wanted to practice her training."  
Shigeru raises an eyebrow and chuckles, "Tell me how that goes."  
Kyoutani doesn't smile but he does nod and Shigeru supposes that will have to do. Kyoutani turns away and then goes over to an already brewing coffee pot, "You like coffee?"  
Shigeru blinks then nods, "Black."  
Kyoutani looks at him and raises an eyebrow, his face is almost comically surprised. "Thought you'd be a priss."  
Shigeru smiles coyly and bats his eyelashes, "Do I look prissy?"  
Kyoutani blinks for a moment, "Yes."  
Shigeru rolls his eyes, does this guy have any sense of humor? Fine. Whatever, he can't complain, the guy's offering him free coffee and watching his dog. Kyoutani pours him some coffee into a to go mug. "Bring that back washed, when you come to pick up Mochi." Shigeru smiles and takes the mug and sips it humming happily. It's better than the crap he buys, he thinks about asking about it but then glances over at Kyoutani's... cat clock? He realizes he's spent way more time here than he'd intended. ****"Shit! Thanks for the coffee and for watching Mochi! I have to go I'll be late to work! Bye Kyoutani!" ****Kyoutani blinks, eyes wide in surprise before he hesitantly waves. ****Shigeru smiles and waves back then runs out of the apartment and down the stairs out of the animal hospital. He catches a bus to the university and can't stop the light feeling in his chest. Mochi's healthy and once he gets out of work he'll bring her home for the evening. His plans include indulging her in treats and cuddling her until they both fall asleep. No amount of loud crying babies, strange smells, or elbows in the ribs he receives can dampen his mood. His days already great.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think University Teams have faculty advisers *shrugs* but I added one anyway.  
> Also I'm really, really tired and read this thing through like once so if it sucks I'm sorry I'll fix it soon. Ish.

Yahaba rushes to the gym at the university and he can already hear the squeak of sneakers, the sound of a ball being tossed, and some idle chatter. He walks into the gym and sees the faculty advisor, Izumi Yukitaka waiting for him. Izumi offers up his signature smile and a warm, friendly greeting. Shigeru is relieved to have Izumi as a faculty adviser, as the previous one had retired. Izumi didn't know much about volleyball but was very enthusiastic, and seemed to be a quick study. Shigeru smiled back at the man and greeted him back then called out to the captain to lead stretches. Meanwhile Izumi and Shigeru talked a bit about their next match against Tokage University. "What are they like?" Shigeru's nose scrunched up in distaste as he remembered the coach of the Tokage team, an ape of a man, with the manners to boot. "The team's strength relies on offense, their wing spikers are second to none. They are powerful for sure, but their strategy relies on aggressive game play that is about snagging as many points as quickly as possible. The strength of their team varies every year but I don't think I've ever seen them with a good Libero. Their team also doesn't seem to be close for whatever reason." "Wow, jeez, maybe you should write a book on them," Izumi chuckles. 

"Knowing what a team's strengths and weaknesses is essential to winning." Shigeru knows he's parroting his old senpai, but at least he isn't imitating his overly theatrical, haughty, tone. Besides Izumi has no idea who Oikawa Tooru is, so it's fine. Once the girls finish stretching Shigeru has them doing flying falls, the girls grumble and drag their feet but go about doing them. Shigeru continues the brutal practice, and he knows that the girls will be exhausted but honestly his team will need to strengthen their endurance. Their team isn't very flashy and he has no genius's on his team, however they all are determined and patient. Shigeru likes this about his team and thinks that if they could focus on defense and bring Tokage in a choke-hold, they might be able to discourage them and wear them down. Shigeru focuses his attention on working on receives, blocks, and serving. Finally the girl's practice finishes up and the girls are groaning and stretching. Shigeru informs the girls of their positions for the match. Gives them a speech about stretching before bed, eating right, and resting. He knows that, that isn't realistic, it wasn't so long since he was a college student, surviving on a steady diet of abysmal sleeping patterns, junk food, and caffeine. Still, he hopes some of the girls will follow his advice. They all file out in groups, groaning about class, yawning, teasing, the typical thing university students do. Shigeru stretches his back popping.  
Izumi makes an old man joke.  
Shigeru kicks him. What a brat.  
They begin cleaning up, Shigeru, tossing volleyballs into the basket while Izumi sweeps the floor. After their done with that they both wrap up the net and finish putting everything away. Normally he would have the girls do this but he knows that they trained hard today and honestly he does not need to worry about much until practice again later on tonight.  
"Hey I don't know what you planned on doing after practice tonight but there's this new ramen shop I hear is really great."  
Shigeru grins happily, "Sorry I can't tonight I'm bringing Mochi home."  
Shigeru starts filling Izumi in on what happened, on the strange animal hospital with the birdlike receptionist, the sassy little girl, the most beautiful woman he's ever seen, and the gruff veterinarian. Izumi laughs amused as Shigeru drops him off to his classroom.  
"Thanks for escorting me," Izumi smiles.  
Shigeru shrugs and smiles ruffling his hair and is reminded of how everyone thinks Izumi looks like he could be Shigeru' s little brother. It feels that way too, at least, Shigeru thinks so, he's an only child so he's not one hundred percent sure.  
Sure Izumi, I'll see you at practice."  
"Later!" Izumi calls.  
Shigeru begins walking away, raising his hand in acknowledgement. He leaves the school grounds and takes the bus back to his apartment. He looks out the window watching the passing scenery and trying not to make any eye contact with anyone. Suddenly an idea comes to mind, and he knows it's dumb. Honestly though, Shigeru has awhile to kill before he has to go back to the house and research on rival teams and finish up some of the work the telemarketing work he does on the side. So, he picks up his phone and goes to his most recent calls then hits redial and waits.

"Hello, Kyoutani Animal Hospital, Kunimi speaking."  
Yahaba is momentarily disappointed by the flat voice, but he presses on his voice polite and cheerful, "Hello, my name is Yahaba Shigeru, I would like to speak with Kyoutani Kentarou?"  
The line is silent for awhile, so much so that Shigeru pulls the phone away to check that the call didn't disconnect. However when he checks the screen, the phone call is still going, the time on the call still ticking away. Shigeru clears his voice to speak when the quiet voice interrupts.  
"He has an appointment right now but he should be- oh- here he is."  
Shigeru blinks his eyes in surprise, he hears an exchange in the background a barely audible voice and a rumbling one.  
"What the hell Yahaba?"  
"Are you really going to speak to a customer like that?" Yahaba knows his voice is too sweet and he can practically see Kyoutani's frown deepening.  
The voice growls and Shigeru will deny it to his dying day, but a shiver rattles down his spine.  
"How is my little Mochi doing? Are you taking care of her."  
"Yeah she went on a walk recently and we actually had a supervised play date with one of the other dogs."  
Shigeru smiles and hums pleased, then an idea strikes and he tries to keep from giggling. "Can I speak with her?"  
"...What the fuck?" Shigeru than hears someone speaking to Kyoutani and hears some movement.  
Shigeru can't really fight the grin and can tell the mischievous tone is leaking through. "Kyoutani I'm a customer, you should do what I say and I have asked to speak to Mochi."  
"What the fuck?..."  
Shigeru nearly misses his stop, but he gets through the bus quickly and makes his way out to the street. "Put me on speakerphone and let me talk to my baby."  
Shigeru hears a string of curses and a growl before click and a quiet, "make it quick."  
Shigeru blinks owlishly, he had never expected Kyoutani to give up so quickly. Shigeru's goal was just to tease him. Now that he's on speaker, and now that Kyoutani has taken him seriously he doesn't know what to say and strangely he's the one feeling harassed.  
"Uh... Hi Mochi."  
There is no answer, and now Yahaba's face is red and he officially wants to die. He crosses the street and prays a car will take him out. "Can she hear me?"  
"Yeah... She's tilting her head and looking at the phone..."  
Shigeru's heart melts at the mental image. "Daddy will come pick you up after work!"  
Shigeru hears a tiny, squeak of a bark and starts to laugh softly. Suddenly there's more background noise and then a sudden bang that makes him drop his keys as he tries to unlock his front door.  
"Kyoutani, my dog better be alright!"  
"Your dog is fine. I'm gonna die though." Shigeru hears the gruff voice, and there's more edge than usual but he also sounds embarrassed and he chuckles.  
"Asshole... I gotta get back to work."  
"Thanks, tell Mochi I said bye!"  
"Kay." Then he hears the click and a disconnect tone.  
Shigeru picks up his keys and makes his way into his apartment, to his little kitchen. He makes himself a cup of instant noodles and pulls out his laptop. He goes through emails and goes on a conference call.  
His regional distract manager has him speak to newer employees, encouraging them through cheesy inspirational words of "wisdom," they discuss things like "leadership," and "success" and though he knows what those things all are he feels like, in this context it's all corporate bullshit. Some part of him loves the farce, but another part wants to pull out his hair and call out everyone, including himself on the bullshit.

Of course he doesn't do that, and of course they get through the call just fine. He wonders of everyone else feels is miserable too,but he decides not to dwell and makes a few calls. He manages to sweet talk a few people into buying into his company's bullshit. After awhile he decides enough is enough and watches some matches of Tokage's relieved when he finds recent footage. He looks over the team and their plays. Unfortunately it seems the team does have a Libero now, a freshman who's admittedly, pretty impressive. However she can't make up for the whole team and doesn't have as much experience as their Libero. Their ace spells trouble for sure. The woman has a cannon for an arm and Shigeru knows their offense won't be able to compete. He takes a few notes and then checks the time. Hours have flown by and he has a half an hour before the girl's second practice. He gets up and throws away the noodle container, closes his laptop and rushes out the door. He rushes to the bus stop just in time, and grabs onto a bar.  
He considers calling Kyoutani again but he has to admit the man is probably too busy. He doesn't exist to torture for Shigeru's amusement... So Shigeru behaves and waits patiently to arrive at the campus. When he hops out of the bus he makes his way to the gym and makes it before most of the girls.  
It's just Shigeru, Izumi, and the captain of the team. Shigeru smiles at her and pats her back. The girl gives a small grin and a nod.  
"You gave us quite the workout this morning."  
Shigeru shrugs, "Tokage's a formidable foe."  
The girls start flooding in after that. The starters are primarily made of third years, so soon all the starters are there and ready for practice. This half of practice consists of running, push-ups, and spiking practice. Some of the girls complain under their breathes but Shigeru isn't slowing down. This is the cost of victory. So Shigeru watches on, and smiles to himself as he sees how one of the first years is improving. Closing the gap in ability between herself and her senpais. He feels immense pride at all the girls and he knows they can do it. He knows his methods are harsh, knows that it's challenging, but he wants these girls to evolve and improve. You can only do that once you face adversity.  
As practice winds down he calls the girls to sit in front of him. He tells them what he saw of the videos, he warns them of the new Libero and tells them they have tomorrow off. The girls clean up this time and he notices that some of them are whispering of having a party. He hopes the girls will be careful and safe, then tells the girls that. They laugh him off, saying he sounds like an old man. Shigeru knows what could happen and honestly he doesn't care if it's lame. These girls are all special, they all matter to him and he has made it known that they can call him whenever their in trouble.  
"You excited to see Mochi?"  
Shigeru smiles and turns to Izumi, "yeah the house is quiet without her."  
Izumi gnaws on his bottom lip, a nervous habit, as he looks down on the floor. "You could always call me up if you're lonely."  
Shigeru chuckles and claps Izumi's shoulder, "you don't wanna hang out with a guy like me. You should go and find yourself someone cool."  
Izumi chews his lips more, and nods absentmindedly, "okay, goodnight Yahaba-San."  
He waits for most of the younger girls to leave then gives the keys to the team captain and tells her to lock up after their done. He then heads out of the gym and into the cool night. He takes off the jersey and ties it around his waist a smile playing on his lips. He can't wait until he can bring Mochi home.  
He goes onto the bus and gets off a few stops early. He steps out and looks up at Kyoutani animal hospital, and now that he is really looking he can see Kyoutani's little porch. Plants spilling out and over, almost too alive and remembering the charming little apartment brings a smile to his face. He then heads inside and goes up to the receptionists desk. There he sees a man, not much younger then himself. His eyes droop, as does his hair though in a way that Shigeru supposes could be considered stylish.  
"Are you here for an appointment?"  
The man looks and sounds completely apathetic and he realizes this was the man he had heard earlier.  
"Sort of... I am supposed to pick up my dog. Mochi."  
Kunimi nods and picks up the phone stifling a yawn, he dials and waits for an answer. He then informs the person on the other end that Shigeru is there. Then he hangs up and gestures for Shigeru to sit down and wait. So he does.

Suddenly someone opens the door from the back, and it's Kyoutani's daughter outfitted with a kitty backpack and a rather impressive scowl. She seats herself in the waiting area too, a few seats away from Shigeru. Shigeru at first decides to ignore her. However the girl is swinging her legs violently and glaring a hole in the wall, she then turns to glare at Shigeru.  
"Where are you headed to?"  
Shigeru hadnt really even intended to say that it just kind of slipped out. He wonders if what he said is the wrong thing because the girl just glares at him. Eventually he just awkwardly turns away wondering if he'd managed to upset the girl.  
"My mommy's picking me up."  
If Shigeru was smart he would've just kept his mouth shut, he would've left it alone, or at the very least changed the subject. But he didn't. "Isn't that a good thing."  
The girl just shrugs, her feet seem more relaxed and now it seems like she's gone from glaring to sulking. So Shigeru counts it as a victory and goes back to the receptionists desk realizing he hadn't paid for his dogs stay.  
Kunimi tells him the price and Shigeru pays. It's a quick transaction, and right on time he sees Kyoutani steps out with Mochi in his arms.  
Shigeru finds it makes a strangely adorable picture. Kyoutani's scowl and Mochi's constant grin seemingly compliment each other suprisingly well. Either that or Mochi's really carrying them. Shigeru grins and scoops the excited puppy in his arms.  
Shigeru's mostly occupied with that but then notices Kyoutani grabbing a pamphlet, "We are starting a new doggy day camp... Chow chows are one of the more aggressive dog breeds so I think it would be a wise idea to socialize her young."  
Shigeru takes the pamphlet and shoves it in his pocket, "I'll consider it."  
"Did you bring back my travel mug?"  
Shigeru groans rubbing his head, "Aw crap, no, I'm sorry, I forgot."  
"Bring it by tomorrow."  
Shigeru nods and continues petting the wriggling puppy. "Yeah,no problem."  
Kyoutani nods once, "Then I'll see you tomorrow." He looks over Shigeru's shoulder to his daughter and sighs rubbing his head before heading to the back door and out of the lobby.  


Shigeru looks over at the little girl and then down at Mochi. Just then Mochi decides to look up and give him the most ridiculous begging eyes she can. Shigeru groans and sits down in the seat next to Kyoutani's daughter.  
"You can pet her."  
The girl looks up, genuine surprise lighting up her maroon eyes. Then she reaches over and pets a happy Mochi who licks her affectionately. The girls features relax a bit and Shigeru notices that the girl is beautiful like this. So Shigeru stays there with the girl waiting. She doesn't really talk but Shigeru begins to relax too, and finds that it's refreshing to stay quiet, not out of awkwardness but just out of contentment.  
Suddenly the door opens, letting in a cool breeze, carrying with it the breathtakingly beautiful woman from the other day. Her blue eyes lock onto the girl then on to Shigeru. "Are you ready Ima?"  
Shigeru sees the girl next to him scratch Mochi's head before hopping down from the chair. She then turns to Shigeru and nods before running over to her mother's side.  
The two turn and leave together, taking the chill with them. A few moments pass before it clicks. Kyoutani Kentarou. The asshole vet, knocked up the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. What. The. Hell.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you if you've been sticking around for this long! I really appreciate your support and your patience! I've been making a lot of this up as I go along so it's been a lot of fun to write! (I realize that kind of made it sound like the last chapter but it isn't.)
> 
> Also thanks for being so patient, sorry about taking so long.

Shigeru takes his squirming puppy home and happily spoils her rotten, giving her extra treats and cuddles. Basically whatever his little girl wants. Sometimes the shock from earlier that night, of discovering that the beautiful woman and Kyoutani are Ima's parents comes back. Then he tries to will the thought away and focus on having Mochi home.

He is for the most part unsuccessful in this endeavor, until the movie him and Mochi are watching, (Rambo II) is interrupted by the all too familiar screen-name, wATARI, calling through Skype. Shigeru eagerly picks up the call and grins delighted when he sees his best friend's face on the screen. It's really been too long and Mochi seems to share the sentiment, barking excitedly at the image on the screen.  
"Oh is that my niece?! Hello little Mochi!"  
"Harty- Har-har," Shigeru says rolling his eyes and failing miserably to hold back a grin. "We can't all have five children."  
"Three, and it's not so bad, one for each of us." Watari hears a voice over his shoulder and talks to them before someone comes in the room. A very tired Misaki, who, bless her heart, still manages to throw a smile Shigeru's way.  
"Misaki how are you? Did I manage to catch you between pregnancies?"  
Misaki glowers at him, "you're such an ass Shigeru, that's why you can't get a date."  
"That and he's completely clueless." Watari adds helpfully.  
Shigeru pouts dramatically and sprawls out on the couch, accidentally jostling Mochi, not that she seems to care. "Where is your better third? The one who's actually nice to me."  
"Bath and Bed duties are strictly Yuuji's job."  
Suddenly a symphony of cries, loud thumps, and screams are heard. Neither of the parents in front of the screen even budge, in fact, they seemingly have no reaction to the noises and a few moments later the noises die down. Shigeru turns to Watari and raises an eyebrow.  
"You aren't even gonna check on them?" Misaki looks at Shigeru like he's just grown five heads, and Watari shakes his head vigorously. A short few moments later Terushima comes into view looking like he was mauled by animals (he probably was) and collapsing onto the couch exhausted.  
Shigeru smiles at Yuuji, "rough night?"  
Yuuji shrugs, "I'm pretty sure all kids are like this."  
Misaki reaches over into the chip back and lobs a couple at him, "I'm pretty sure it's because they're your demon spawn." Terushima pouts, "Hey, at least one of them is Watari's!!" Watari reaches over and pats Yuuji's leg, "Nature vs Nurture sweetie."  
Shigeru gets up and grabs a box of Pocky while the happy threesome bicker, shifting the blame onto each other. By the time Shigeru comes back Yuuji has recruited Watari onto his side, (no doubt with the promise of a blow job.) After awhile Miyuki storms out of the room claiming that sex is off the table forever,( Shigeru wonders what he should bring to the baby shower.)  
Eventually they ask Shigeru what he's been up to and he tells them both about Tokage and they all share tips. Yuuji suggests 2 on 2s and Shigeru is swayed pretty easily, he remembers Terushima's team and thinks that they could use some of that creative, wild playing style. He then tells them all about Mochi's crisis, Kyoutani and his shitty personality, his apartment, Ima, and finally reveals the bomb of the beautiful mystery woman being Ima's mom.  
Shigeru's satisfied when both men freak out accordingly and they all come up with theories ranging from the understandable, to the completely ridiculous. Until eventually all three guys are laughing so hard tears are streaming down their cheeks.

Sadly, all things must come to an end and both Yuuji and Watari have seen better days. Yuuji departs first, wishing Shigeru a good night and tells him he can come over any time whilst throwing a flirty wink his way. Shigeru is delighted and leers at Yuuji, telling him that he'll have to take Yuuji up on that. Watari rolls his eyes at the obnoxious flirting act, having grown completely immune to it the second his boyfriend and best friend met. Watari waits until they're alone before turning to Shigeru again.  
"I heard Oikawa is coming to town soon, you must be excited. You know, the love of your life being back."  
Shigeru tries not to pout wondering why Watari was called and not him, before paying attention to the rest of his best friend's words.  
"I am not in love with him."  
Shigeru receives a disbelieving snort, that, frankly, he doesn't deserve. "Yeah, anymore."  
Shigeru frowns, he was never THAT bad, and sure, at one point he may have had a crush on his college senpai. But who could honestly blame him? Anyone with eyes could see that Oikawa Tooru was attractive. Besides, after seeing him with Iwaizumi, he knew he didn't really stand a chance. They were good friends now and honestly it was a little embarrassing that he'd ever been so smitten with his old captain.  
"Oh sue me, I like pretty guys, I was young."  
Watari stands up stretching wearing a seemingly innocent smile, "No what you like, is a challenge. Anyway on that note, I am off to bed."

Shigeru shuts down the chat and tries not to let Watari's comment bother him. He looks to the foot of the couch where little Mochi is curled up in a ball napping, and Shigeru can't help but smile at the adorable scene. Shigeru pets her head softly before stopping the movie and cleaning up. He looks at the clock and realizes that it's still early. Why does he feel so old? 

After everything has been cleaned and put away Shigeru goes to his room and sits on his bed, pulling the laptop with him. He checks over his emails and sees that he'll have to get a few more sales to be the best rep. It's weird that it matters to Shigeru, he doesn't care about the company and he certainly doesn't give a shit about sales. For whatever reason though, Shigeru's always been fixated on being best. Shigeru knows himself that it's stupid, knows that his competitiveness is childish, and he knows from experience that he doesn't have the talent to be the best at anything. Yet there he was considering wasting his day off just to move from second place to first. Shigeru looks at the clock on the nightstand beside the bed, there's no way he can make calls now. So he puts the laptop aside and curls up with Mike Hebert's Thinking Volleyball. Shigeru succumbs to sleep much more quickly than expected. He falls asleep on top of the sheets in a messy pile of long limbs, the lights still on and illuminating through the windows into the outside world.

**********************

Shigeru wakes up in the morning to the sound of a repetitive, high pitched sound. In his sleep addled mind this offender is deserving of his wrath, and so without lifting his head he throws a pillow towards the bastard. Unfortunately the noise persists consistent as ever. Eventually Shigeru lifts his head, his hair sticking up at awkward angles, a deep scowl painting his usually delicate features into sharp lines of pinched eyebrows and a severe frown. When he looks to the doorway he sees his little fluffball, barking insistently, tail wagging a mile a minute. Now, Shigeru was not normally considered forgiving, particularly in the mornings, (the girls on his team would attest to this) but who could stay mad at a sweet, innocent, little pup. In fact he feels a bit guilty, and so he apologizes and pats her head affectionately before dragging himself out of bed;stretching with various creaks and groans. He pads down the hallway to the bathroom, Mochi following close behind, yipping the whole way. For the most part Shigeru accepts it as background noise, he begins preparing the water the way he likes it. Letting the bathtub fill up with scalding hot, bubbly water. Mochi eventually settles down realizing that her acting up won't get her any extra attention, once she does this Shigeru scratches her head and praises her. However he had the mistake of petting her with his water-testing hand, and now Mochi's throwing herself on the ground and rubbing frantically to dry herself off. Shigeru chuckles and strips off his clothes as Mochi continues frantically drying herself. He sinks into the tub slowly, hissing the whole time. For a little while he just rests against the edge, his eyes closed as the hot water goes from punishing to relaxing. He than sinks himself under the water and stays there, feeling a strange sense of otherworldliness that still clings from his childhood bathtub fantasies. He, after a few moments breaks the surface, his usual fluffy hair slicked back against his scalp. Mochi at some point had gotten bored and wandered off, so Shigeru went about quickly cleaning himself. He was less quick to get out of the tub, eventually though the water went from scalding hot to lukewarm, a temperature that Shigeru considered criminal. So he stepped out of the tub, watching as the water lowered until it circled the drain. Leaving nothing but suds in their wake.

He strides back to his room noticing one or two of Mochi's accidents. He sighs resigned as he grabs a towel and dries off before selecting a comfortable, long sleeved, nude sweater and a pair of well-fitting, bleached jeans. Shigeru doesn't bother with the usual morning routine, as Mondays are his lazy day. So he simply towel dries his hair and goes about cleaning up after Mochi. Then goes to the kitchen area and fills her bowl with kibble. Shigeru doesn't bother with breakfast and instead heats up some water for tea. He watches quietly as Mochi scarfs down her food, her small body half in the food bowl. Meanwhile Shigeru pours himself a cup and sips it, waiting patiently for Mochi to finish her food.

When Mochi's completely emptied her food bowl he finishes his tea and throws it into the sink. Then grabs some slightly chewed on sneakers and Mochi's leash. The puppy hears the small metallic jingling and bounds over excitedly yipping. He attaches the leash to her collar and proceeds to head out locking the door behind him. He's stifling a yawn behind his hand but Mochi doesn't seem to have the same problem with mornings as her owner. They make their way out of the apartment, owner and puppy alike greeting neighbors along the way. 

The change in the air is almost immediate as they head outside. The air has a slight chill to it, as it always does in the early morning. The sky is painted in hues of light blue and soft pinks, seemingly in direct contrast to the nose-nipping chill. Shigeru ponders getting little Mochi a sweater.

The walk is relaxing, and the air, though a bit cool is also terribly refreshing. They stroll casually occasionally stopping when someone wants to pet Mochi, and make their way over towards a local park. It's one of their favorite places to walk, the nice walkways and the manicured lawns make a pleasing sight for Shigeru while the happenings and smells seem to appease Mochi. The park is also pleasingly devoid of people, he almost begins to hopefully ponder that his pooch and himself are the only ones here.

That hope is dashed almost immediately when he sees a small figure close by. As he walks closer he realizes he recognizes this person, and he recognizes the action she's performing too.

The girl has a focused glare on her face as she sends the ball up into the air, jumping and sending it to the ground with all the force her small body can muster. Then she continues again and again, the focus on her face and the determination set into her posture speaks to a person much older than herself. She eventually notices their presence and catches the volleyball into her small hands. Turning her face to focus her glare on Shigeru instead, her shoulders perched high by her ears.  
Shigeru puts on his most charming smile and speaks into what he hopes is a soothing voice.  
"Hey Ima, where are your parents?"


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey Ima where are your parents?"

Ima pouts at Shigeru her bottom lip jutting out, there is a flush painting her cheeks a bright pink and her eyes seem hazy and unfocused. Then she catches sight of little Mochi wagging her tail excitedly and she sinks to her knees and scoops up the puppy, hugging it affectionately. Shigeru watches as Mochi litters Ima's face with kisses and wriggles in the young girl's grasp. Shigeru bends forward and presses his palm to the girls forehead, and to his alarm he finds the girl to be hot to the touch.  
"Ima where are your parents?" Ima rasps and has a coughing fit, before glaring at Shigeru, "I just wanted to practice."  
Shigeru sighs, he shouldn't be made to deal with things like this so early in the morning, especially on his day off. Shigeru curses his luck than takes out his phone, Ima's eyes go wide and she scrambles up reaching for it.  
"Don't tell mom!" Shigeru holds the girl back by her forehead.  
"I don't have your mom's number! Relax! I'm just going to let your father know you aren't kidnapped!" Shigeru calls the animal hospital but gets a busy signal, and gets sent to voicemail. He leaves one and sighs, because really, of course he can't get a hold of Kyoutani.  
"Alright, give me your mom's number."  
Ima frowns up at Shigeru, still holding Mochi in her arms.  
"Look if you aren't going to help me I'll bring you to the police station. Besides you are burning up, you have to get home."  
Ima carefully sets the puppy down, and then starts to book it. Luckily, Shigeru saw this coming and grabs the girls arm. Ima isn't so easily defeated though, she whips her head around and glares at Shigeru.  
"If you take me near the police station I will scream that you touched me."  
Shigeru gapes at Ima, he thought they had bonded the other night, things were going so well and now she's plotting against him. The expression, "No good deed comes unpunished," comes to mind. For awhile it's a stand off, man and girl glaring at one another. "You need to rest Ima, seriously."  
The girl considers it than looks at Shigeru thoughtfully, "take me to your house."  
"I don't have a house."  
Ima looks unimpressed, "Then take me to where you live."  
Shigeru frowns, "but then I really would be kidnapping you."  
"No, I'd be visiting."  
It's a bad idea, Shigeru knows but he's tired and Ima, for all her determination, looks like she's about to pass out and so Shigeru sighs utterly defeated.  
"Fine, come on then."  
They turn around and start heading back towards the apartment. Shigeru looks down and catches her wobbling slightly, so Shigeru takes the small girl's clammy hand and suprisingly, Ima doesn't fight it.  
"You won't call mommy right?"  
Shigeru frowns down at the little girl, her expression pouty and pathetic in a way he's never seen.  
"No I won't, but why don't you want me to call her?"  
"She's got to work, it's important, she's in charge of a lot of people."  
Shigeru frowns, "So who was home with you?"  
The little girl scowls, "Yachi was home, Yachi's there all the time."  
Shigeru blinks,  
"Oh, are her and your mommy friends?"  
Ima frowns, "No, they kiss."  
Shigeru's shocked, and maybe feels a little bit guilty for prying too much, especially from a little girl who's too sick to know better.  
"Mommy says that it would make her happy if I was nice to Yachi."  
Shigeru hums thoughtfully,"Do you like her?"  
"She's always apologizing, she talks too fast, and messes up all the time, and worries about everything. She's a wimp."  
"She didn't seem that bad to me."  
Ima frowns and looks down at the ground, "I want mommy, and I want mommy and daddy and me together..."  
Shigeru had his own fair share of problems growing up but his parents were still together. He looks down at Ima and can't imagine what it's like and how confusing and upsetting it must be for her.  
"Tell you what twerp, when we get to my house you can watch any movie you want."  
Ima looks up at him, "...okay."  
Ima breaks into another coughing fit her voice wheezing but luckily they make it to the apartment building then.

Shigeru lets them both in and takes the stairs up to the second floor and towards the third door there. Shigeru goes through his pockets for the keys to his apartment at the same time as his phone rings. Shigeru struggles and fails dropping both the cellphone and keys, the latter of which, Ima is kind enough to pick up. He eventually manages to get into the apartment, letting his phone ring incessantly as he gets Mochi and Ima inside, unhooks Mochi's collar, and closes the door with his foot.

He than directs Ima to the bathroom and hands her his smallest shirt, telling her to change into it and come back out. In the mean time Shigeru begins boiling water and calling back the unknown number.  
"Yahaba!" The voice sounds frenzied and anxious but he recognizes it, even as the voice shakes with anxiety.  
"Kyoutani, hey, I'm with Ima now at my place."  
"At your place?"  
Shigeru doesn't know how much to tell Kyoutani, so he doesn't bother to tell anything Ima confesses to him.  
"Yeah she was pretty insistant."  
"...So you got yourself outsmarted by a kindergartener?" Shigeru huffs, "she has a pretty intense fever and I didn't want to argue with her, or have her accuse me of being a pervert."  
Kyoutani chuckles than there are voices in the background, "I can't pick up Ima right now I have a pretty urgent surgery booked, but there are others covering for the rest of my shift and I'll be back in a couple of hours."  
Shigeru hums adding instant noodles to the water and turning it down, "That's fine, I'm just going to make her try to eat and rest."  
  
"Alright, thanks, I'll make it up to you." Before Shigeru can tell him that it's really not necessary, Kyoutani hangs up. He sighs and puts his phone back into his pocket wondering what Kyoutani could possibly want to offer him. Ima walks into the room and she is absolutely swimming in his old shirt. The ratty, plain black tee drags behind her like a train, her face is miserable, snotty and red.  
Shigeru takes her hand and leads her to the couch, "did you think about what you want to watch?" He asks conversationally, while opening his closet and grabbing some of his more comfortable blankets.  
"The Little Mermaid."  
Shigeru blinks suprised but than nods and grabs a pillow from his bedroom. When he comes back Ima's bent low to pet Mochi, and Shigeru sets up the couch for her, making a nest of the pillow and blankets. Once Shigeru is satisfied he scoops Ima up by her armpits and sits her up on the couch against the propped up pillow. He then wraps the blankets around her and tucks her in tightly until Ima is thoroughly trapped. He tops off this little Ima sundae with a Mochi cherry, placing the happy little puppy on Ima's lap. Both girls look happy and Mochi snuggles up while Ima doles out her undivided attention. 

Shigeru walks back into the kitchen, turning down the boiling water and adding the instant noodles. He occasionally peeks over to the girls in the other room and smiles at them. 

After a few minutes the noodles are done and Shigeru mixes in the flavoring, he makes sure that the noodles are primarily broth and makes a small bowl for himself and Ima. He quickly brings them into the living room resting the bowls on the coffee table before grabbing two water bottles from the fridge. He comes back into the living room setting both bottles down.  
"Drink some water first, then I will play the movie." Ima nods and grabs the water bottle and drinking it greedily. A large chunk of it just ends up dripping out of her mouth but she eventually stops chugging the water and sets it down on the coffee table. There's a zero percent chance there won't be a ring left behind, he tries not to dwell on it. 

Shigeru considers lecturing Ima on the way she drinks but sighs and let's it go. He goes on demand and orders The Little Mermaid, starting it up, and taking a seat beside Ima on the couch. Ima seems to relax, taking little spoonfuls of broth into her mouth as her eyes track the action on the screen. The movie starts out with sailors on a ship, singing of sea life and mermaids. One character, a waif of a butler, is cartoonishly green and is introduced while hurling overboard.  
"That's you."  
Shigeru turns to Ima who is smiling mischievously. An old sailor appears onscreen. Most of the character's teeth are missing and he sounds ridiculous. Shigeru lightly elbows Ima's side and points to the character.  
"That's you," he returns. They continue on this way for awhile, Ima's the crab (Sabastian, Ima informs him.) Shigeru's King Triton, Ima's the seagull ("His name's Scuttle!") Shigeru's flounder, and Ima is Ursela. The game is only interrupted by coughing fits, and chuckles. They make it as far as the song "Kiss The Girl," before Ima inevitably succumbs to sleep. Shigeru cleans up some of the dishes and leaves them in the sink before coming back in the room with a damp washcloth. He folds it and gently places it on her forehead. Ima stirs, her features scrunching before falling slack once again. Shigeru than gently shifts her so she's laying down and fluffs the pillow behind her head. He steps back and can't help but notice that, despite the sweat collecting on her forehead, she looks like a little princess herself. Her black curls rest gently against the pillow, her face, flushed from the fever makes her cheeks look painted, and her long lashes delicately fan out. Her face is completely relaxed, all posturing lost to sleep. Mochi lays curled in her lap, snoozing right along side her. Shigeru can't help but think that the scenario is too cute to resist, and so Shigeru takes a picture and makes a new message for both Kyoutani and Watari.  
_**We were watching The Little Mermaid, but she looks more like Snow White to me.**_  
Shigeru's phone dings immediately, and he opens the message with a smile.  
Watari's name is the one that comes up and Shigeru feels a twinge of dissappointment.  
**_Is that Ima? What is she doing at your house? Did you invite Kyoutani over?_** Shigeru types his message quickly, realizing too late it might be weird to take pictures of someone else's sleeping kid.  
**_No I ran into Ima, she snuck out and wasn't feeling well. Then she asked to come over. Well actually she blackmailed me._  
_A girl after your own heart huh?_** Shigeru rolls his eyes but feels a smile tugging at his lips anyway. He has to admit that for a sick, possibly bratty, little girl she is fun to hang around with. He wonders how much of that is due to Kyoutani or the mother. Or maybe Ima is her own brand of fun. 

The hours tick by slowly.Shigeru takes out Mochi a few times when she needs to go to the bathroom, changes the damp facecloth on Ima's forehead, and tidies up his apartment. By the time Ima wakes up again to grumble and make her way to the bathroom it's almost dinner time.

When she comes out of the bathroom again Shigeru walks up to her and feels her skin. She's drenched in sweat and she's still a bit hot but she seems better. Her eyes are less glossed over and she is back to her typical scowl.  
"Feeling better?"  
Ima nods and holds Shigeru's wrist in her suprisingly strong grip. Shigeru raises an eyebrow but doesn't question further, Mochi suddenly whines and both humans look down at the little canine.  
"She must be hungry, how about you Ima? Are you hungry?" Ima nods, let's go of Shigeru's wrist, and crawls back into her little best on the couch.  
"Can I call my dad and see if he made something?" "Your dad can cook?!" Shigeru should maybe reign his excitement in a bit but honestly? He can't cook for shit. It's always a choice between going out and simply buying instant food, the latter being what he indulges in more frequently as of late. So Shigeru's always excited to eat home cooked meals.  
Ima raises an eyebrow as if cooking is just an innate ability that all adults have. As if home cooked meals aren't a blessing, as if it was obvious her scowling, mean-looking dad would cook.  
"Yeah, he cooks..." "Does he wear an apron?" "...Sometimes." Shigeru had mostly been joking but cackles when he hears Ima's confirmation. He can't help but try and picture Kyoutani scowling while wearing the frilliest, girliest, apron possible. Shigeru's giggles eventually subside long enough for him to hand his cellphone to Ima. Ima doesn't look nearly as amused as she navigates Shigeru's contacts and calls her father. For a moment she just sits there quietly with the phone to her ear. "Hey... Mhm...Yeah I'm fine... Sorry....Why?!... Fine." Ima looks at Shigeru than and her eyes widen.  
"Oh yeah can you cook for us?...Shigeru.." She looks at Shigeru for a moment quietly studying him.  
"I don't think so... Yeah he made ramen... Yeah it sucked. Okay. Alright, bye." She hangs up the phone then and hands it to Shigeru.  
"Dad says that he's making dinner so we gotta come over." Shigeru grins and gets Ima's clothes from before and grabs one of the blankets.  
"Alright, put on your pants your a little young for the walk of shame." Ima tilts her head to the side in confusion and Shigeru chuckles and shakes his head, Ima mutters and pouts, something Shigeru being a "weirdo." Shigeru like the mature adult he is takes it in stride. He hands Ima her pants and she puts them on without fuss, than Shigeru wraps her in his blanket before scooping her up. 

Ima blinks surprised but doesn't fight it.  
"Dad says I'm too old to be picked up."  
"Your dad? That big, strong, guy won't pick you up?"  
"No but if you can, He can too."  
"Hey, what is that supposed to mean? I'm taller than your dad you know." As the two argue they leave Shigeru's apartment and by the time they're out of the building and on the street Shigeru's arms are tired and he's putting Ima down. For awhile the conversation dies down and it's just Shigeru and Ima walking. There's a chill in the air, the weather far enough into Autumn to feel winter creeping closer. Shigeru looks down at Ima and she looks comfortable enough, draping the blanket to look like a little poncho. She seems content to walk in silence but Shigeru realizes he likes listening to her speak and so, decides to break the quiet atmosphere.  
"I saw you practicing your serves, I don't know what the average kid looks like playing but you looked like you were doing pretty good to me." Ima's head snaps up so quickly that he is legitimately alarmed, her eyes are wide and her lips parted in surprise.  
"You play volleyball?" Shigeru smiles and nods, "Sometimes, though now I'm just a coach for Miyagi University Women's team." Ima's eyes are sparkling now, filled with admiration, and it's completely disarming. He feels pride swell in his chest and tries to reign in the urge to gloat.  
"You should play with my dad and my uncles. They're really good."  
"We can ask your dad when I get there." They lapse into silence again and this time Shigeru lets it be. He usually isn't comfortable with too much quiet, he likes to gossip, chat, and argue. Shigeru always been social, has always strived for attention and achievement. Has always wanted to be viewed as special, as great. It's ridiculous but with Ima he doesn't feel the need to push, doesn't feel the need to prove himself, or be overly nice like he does with most children. So Shigeru enjoys the walk to The Kyoutani household. Letting the sounds around them drift and hang in the air. 

Once they get there Ima takes Shigeru's hand and leads him through the small alley next to The Kyoutani Animal Hospital. She than pulls him to the back and up a set of stairs to a door. Ima knocks on the door a couple of times before Kyoutani answers, honest to god, with an apron on. Shigeru can't handle it. He's not strong enough, peals of laughter erupt from him. The sheer force of it causing Shigeru to double over and clutch his stomach. Ima and Kyoutani both look shocked before Kyoutani's scowl darkens and he crosses his arms.  
"What the fuck are you laughing at?"Kyoutani barks. He manages to sound somewhat intimidating but it only stands to make the apron more hilarious. Shigeru's vision is blurring with tears and his breaths only come in gasps. He points to Kyoutani's apron, because it is, by far, funnier than anything he has the imagination to dream up. Because instead of frills it is covered in crude drawings and little handprints with the words "best dad" asymmetrically glued on. Shigeru doesn't laugh long though because Ima sends a sharp kick to his shin.

Shigeru pouts and rubs his leg, than looks at Kyoutani.  
"Aren't you going to discipline your daughter?" "No. Come on, you and Ima are making the table." He turns on his heel Ima following close behind.Shigeru wipes a tear from his eye, exhales, and follows them both inside, closing the door behind him. As soon as he enters he's hit by the delicious smell of home-cooked soup.  
"Come on.We have to set the table!"Shigeru takes off his shoes and mutters a quick "sorry for intruding," before grabbing bowls and utensils and helping Ima set the table.  
"So what's on the menu?" Kyoutani removes the pot from the stovetop, "Nobeyaki Udon." Shigeru goes to the cupboard Ima directs him to and grabs cups for everyone. Once they're on the table he goes to the fridge and grabs some juice and fills them all up.  
"Ready," Kyoutani bellows. Nan comes into the room than, she comes up and sniffs Shigeru in greeting before walking up to Ima and kissing her cheek. Earning a small laugh and her own kiss from Ima. Ima than takes her bowl, bringing it over to her father, who ladels her some soup before she trots back to the table, Nan in tow. Shigeru takes the cue and walks up with both his and Kyoutani's bowls.  
"Thanks for inviting me over."  
"No problem."  
Shigeru and Kyoutani both head back to the table and sit down. For awhile, dinner is quiet. Not that Shigeru minds, for one, both Ima and Kyoutani seem comfortable, and secondly, Shigeru wouldn't have noticed anyway. It had been so long since he had, had a home cooked meal. Honestly the food was amazing and Shigeru barely spoke at all as he greedily slurped the noodles.  
"Are you gonna cry?" Shigeru looks up from his food to blink at Kyoutani whom has an eyebrow raised and looks thoroughly judgemental.  
"I'm not gonna cry," Shigeru pouts.  
"Ima says you can't cook."  
Shigeru frowns and is about to defend himself when Kyoutani stops him.  
"Its sad, but I'll help teach you to cook, as thanks for helping Ima." Shigeru smiles a bit resting his chin and leaning forwards.  
"How about you take me to your next Volleyball match with Ima's uncles?"  
"...Why?" "Because I haven't played in awhile and I would like to see these guys. Ima says they're good." Shigeru conveniently leaves out the part where he admits that he's curious about Kyoutani. He remembers the aggressive way Ima was trying to serve in the park and wonders if she is mimicking him. He can't help but wonder what kind of playing style he has because Shigeru can't picture him on a team. It feels like the questions keep piling up too. Questions about Ima's mom and Kyoutani, Ima's mom and Yachi, Kyoutani doesn't seem very hurt,and Yachi works for him. Why a vet? Why does he collect knick-knacks like an old woman? Where did he learn to do all this plant magic? Why does he seem so hard when all these things seem to hint at a softer side?  
"Oi!" Shigeru looks up in the direction of the startling noise to see that Kyoutani's a lot closer than expected. From this distance Shigeru can see the way Kyoutani's body is tensed, as if he always expects something bad could happen. Shigeru realizes there are seldom times where hes seen Kyoutani relaxed, and he can't help but wonder what that would look like. His skin is a few shades darker than Shigeru's, almost appearing sun-kissed despite it being late fall. Kyoutani's neck is longer than Shigeru had expected, it's almost elegant. His hair is short but the ends seem to curl in a way that suggests that Ima got her curly hair from him. His mouth is pursed in a scowl of irritation that Shigeru already feels familiar with, he wonders how Kyoutani's lips would look relaxed or pulled into a smile, or how they would look pursed. His cheek bones are high, and his jaw is suprisingly sharp, he doesn't seem to have much if any baby fat. Kyoutani's eyebrows, though hardly even there are very expressive, Shigeru wonders if there is a permanent wrinkle there yet. There must be, Kyoutani is constantly pulling them down so much. But what really draws Shigeru is Kyoutani's eyes, because they are intense, and he thinks they would be reguardless if Kyoutani wears eyeliner or not (Does he? Just one more mystery.) Kyoutani's eyes, seemingly depending on lighting, change from a rich, almost mahogany color, to a honey- brown. Right now it's the latter, gold flecks seem to be mixed in with soft brown. The color's beautiful but Shigeru doesn't think the color is what is most unnerving about those eyes. There's something about them that seems too intense, as if there is always something there, driving him. As if he seeks to burn everything, to know everything, to claim it as his. The sheer amount of intent in those eyes, whatever that intent might be draws him in.  
"Oi, stop spacing out! You done?" Shigeru blinks dumbly and hands Kyoutani the bowl. Kyoutani takes it and starts cleaning before Ima comes in yawning with Shigeru's blanket still wrapped around her. Kyoutani looks over his shoulder and spots her.  
"Give Yahaba his blanket back, it's almost your bed time." Ima pouts but trudges over obediently, the blanket dragging behind her. Shigeru shakes his head with a small smile.  
"You look pretty comfortable, you can give it back to me another time. Once you wash all the sick germs off of it." Shigeru was just joking about the sick germs but Ima nods her head and looks pretty serious. She turns to leave than, the blanket still dragging behind her, but than she turns to Shigeru and a trace of a smile plays on her lips.  
"Thanks Shigeru." She than continues out of the kitchen and presumably into her room. Shigeru gets up from the chair and stretches, helping Kyoutani by drying the plates. They wordlessly finish drying and putting away the plates before turning to one another.  
"Thanks for dinner! It was suprisingly good." Kyoutani wrinkles his nose but doesn't retaliate at the slight jab, instead he nods. "Thanks for looking after Ima today, did she go off to play volleyball when you found her?"  
"Yeah," Shigeru smiles a bit, "she seems to really like it." Kyoutani just hums non-comittally, "I have to put Ima to bed." Shigeru nods, than a thought pops into his head, "Hey, can we play a game of 20 questions too? To make it up to me?" Kyoutani snaps around and narrows his eyes, "Why?" "I have questions. I'm a curious guy." "You can ask 10 questions. I assume you still wanna play volleyball with us too." "Of course," Shigeru responds brightly, maybe a touch too pleased. "Alright pain in the ass, get out of my house before you demand more crap." Shigeru takes one last look at Kyoutani, he's still wearing "the dad apron," and Shigeru staves off the smile threatening to break out on his lips.  
"Night, Kyoutani, tell Ima I said goodnight too." Shigeru then walks out the door, and into the night. He's instantly slammed with cold air, the temperature having dropped considerably since he left his apartment. He walks for a little while, trying to distract himself from the cold before he receives a text message.

Shigeru stops in his tracks and opens it, it's a reply to the picture image of Ima he sent earlier, the one where Shigeru compares her to Snow White. The reply is from an unknown number.  
_**I think so too, but d'nt tell Ima (Ariel's her favorite) __**Shigeru reads the message and can't stop the stupid smile that tugs at his lips, and despite the biting cold Shigeru feels warm for the rest of his journey home._


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shigeru and Izumi prepare their girls for the Tokage match and Shigeru meets up with his senpai, receiving a few surprises along the way.

The next couple of days went by so quickly that Shigeru forgot entirely about his deal with Kyoutani. That calm, peaceful, atmosphere might as well have been in another lifetime. His days were now a flurry of activity, all in preparation for the match against Tokage. 

In moments like this, where the air is filled with anxiety and excitement Shigeru was greatful for Izumi Yukitaka. He was supportive, kind, and endlessly patient. Izumi approached volleyball with new eyes, like that of a child. Shigeru honestly couldn't ask for a better faculty adviser, Izumi's dedication and love for the girls more than make up for whatever experience he is lacking. He is often eager to help Shigeru himself, occasionally reminding him to take breaks and not push himself too hard. Might bring him a coffee or something from the convenience store. Shigeru tries to repay the favor but honestly he doesn't know if he'll ever be able to. Not that Izumi seems to mind, he seems eager to help in any way he can. So Shigeru tries to be nice where he can, although sometimes it does feel he's taking advantage of Izumi.

Practice today isn't much different, it's the last practice before the dreaded Tokage match. The girls seem to be growing at an excellent rate, their second year middle blocker making a surprising leap in skill. Other than that the rest of the girls are steady, as they gain more strength they become more confident and grow as a team. There's a fine line one must walk in the world of volleyball, and maybe even the athletic world at large. You must maintain a balance, of unshakable confidence and faith in your team, but never forget to be humble. Even the perfect team can fall, even the best player cannot win alone. Shigeru thinks his girls are on the way to learning that. They're starting to come together as a team.  
"You look proud." Shigeru turns his head to the side, regarding Izumi before turning his attention back to the girls.  
"I am." For awhile Shigeru just stands with Izumi in companionable silence, watching the girls practicing together. Shigeru is the only one in the gym whos never noticed Izumi's lingering eyes.He doesn't notice the way Izumi lights up when Shigeru looks back. Doesn't see how close Izumi tries to be, and Shigeru definitely doesn't notice the way the other man's expression falls when he is unintentionally turned down. No, Shigeru is blissfully unaware of the professor quietly pining after him. Shigeru watches the girls and feels pride swell in his chest. When practice ends Shigeru calls the girls over, his face going over their expressions. Some girls look confident, some nervous, some give nothing away but all eyes are on their coach as he speaks.  
"You girls are improving rapidly, you're really clicking as a team, and your working hard. Your efforts are not wasted. No matter what happens, I'm proud of you girls. You can do this, so go tear them apart." Some of the girls whoop, others whisper to their friends. Shigeru thinks he may have heard an, "oooohhh scary!" He decides to ignore it.  
"Make sure you girls get enough rest!" The girls holler and shout, the freshman stay behind to clean, some more enthusiastic than others. Their senpai leave together in one group, most likely enjoying exploiting their kohai and caught in their own little nostalgic world. Shigeru gathers his clipboard, his dvd's, and his other supplies. Izumi was approaching, gathering the courage to ask Shigeru to come out with him. Unfortunately for him, Shigeru's phone went off, it's relentless chiming stealing away Shigeru's attention. 

Shigeru takes a glance at the caller and poorly fights the grin spreading over his features. He accepts the call and presses the phone to his ear.  
"So," Shigeru starts nonchalantly, "you've finally decided to grace me with your presence. Here I thought you forgot all about me."  
"Aww nonsense! I would never forget about my favorite kohai! In fact, If I remember correctly your team has a match tomorrow." Shigeru blinked, a bit taken back that his senpai knew that much, though upon further speculation it should not have been that strange. Oikawa always did like to obsessively collect information, a habit Shigeru may or may not have picked up himself.  
"Yeah, we do have a match, what of it?"  
"Well, I remembered how you always used to get nervous a day or two before a match, figured you wouldn't mind playing a pick up game! That is if you aren't too tired and out of shape..." Shigeru grinned easily, his competitive streak flaring back to life, "Well sure Oikawa-san, if you think you can keep up," his voice lilting with a thick layer of fake innocence. Shigeru heard the intake before Oikawa's response, no doubt it would be equally as haughty. However Oikawa didn't get the chance to respond, a gruff voice and a yelp interrupting whatever his senpai was about to say.  
"Tooru! Quit being an asshole!" Shigeru couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips, the whole scene over the phone playing out so familar, that Shigeru could easily picture it in his mind.  
"Iwaizumi-san is that you?"  
"Hey Yahaba, its been awhile. Sorry I haven't called, I have been busy trying to keep this disgrace out of trouble." An indignant squawk sounds in the background, followed by a string of whines, the sequence of noise so familiar that Shigeru feels years slip away like nothing. He rolls his eyes indulgently as he hears chaos ensue over the phone,. He waits until the chaos dies down a bit before interrupting.  
"So when and where is this pickup game?"

"We'll let you get home first and get ready, how about we meet up at the gym near the station?"  
Shigeru's eyebrow raised skeptically, Tooru usually preferred the nicer places.  
Iwaizumi explains before Shigeru even gets the chance to ask. "I know someone who can get us in for free. Also reporters won't mob us."  
"Iwa-chan, I can't help how famous I am!"

Shigeru didn't want to hear anymore bickering and so made sure they didn't get a chance. "Sounds good, I might take awhile. I'll call you when I'm ready."  
"Okay~ sounds good! We'll see you than Shi-chan."  
Chuckling Shigeru nodded his head, "Alright Oikawa see you soon." He hung up and turned around to see Izumi standing close by his expression strange and far away.  
"Everything alright Izumi?" Izumi shook his head, as if the simple gesture would change the sinking feeling in his chest. Izumi smiled half heartedly, "Don't worry Yahaba- san I'm fine, just a bit tired. Was that Oikawa? What did he want?" Shigeru's smile grew more genuine, "He wants to play a pick up game, I haven't seen him since last time he came around so I'm pretty excited." Izumi's perma-smile dropped for a moment, but it was long enough for Shigeru to notice. He put a hand on Izumi's shoulder and squeezed gently, "are you alright Izumi?" Izumi looked into Shigeru's eyes searching for something. When Izumi didn't find whatever it was he let out a sigh and spread on a thin, lackluster smile.  
"Everything's fine Yahaba-san, I think I'm just exhausted." Izumi grabbed his things than turned to Shigeru, "I hope you have fun tonight with the volleyball star." Shigeru nods and smiles, "great work today Izumi, as always, get some rest!" Izumi waved before exiting the building, wearing a well practiced smile until he left the school grounds.Shigeru none the wiser. 

Shigeru said his farewells to the remaining freshman telling them to lock up after themselves and to stay safe. The girls responded in turn some of them asking for Oikawa's autograph or a picture. Shigeru just sighed indulgently and gave the girls a solid maybe on the fan stuff. Oikawa was already known for his workaholic tendencies. For tonight Shigeru hoped to just spend time with his friends. 

First though he had to make it home and so he hopped the bus and watched the world slide by througb his windows as excitement fluttered in his chest. ******************************* 

Once Shigeru had gone home he spent his time walking Mochi, feeding her and feeding himself a little too. (A protein bar counts as dinner right?) Shigeru than went to his room and picked out his clothes for the gym. Black shorts that were somewhat loose but didn't bag too much and a turquoise shirt, call him sentimental but he always liked his old team color. He turned to see little Mochi padding behind him. This was the hardest part for sure, Shigeru's adorable little girl was looking up at him her little curled tail wagging. Her eyes stayed trained on his, her mouth smiling pleasantly. He was tempted to invite Oikawa over to just veg on the couch, and he would no doubt have to do that, if only to introduce Oikawa to Mochi, but for now getting out and playing a pickup game sounded like a good idea. So Shigeru gave his pup a few extra pats and kisses before changing into his gym clothes. He than gathered his things and threw on his coach jacket before turning to Mochi and placing a few treats on her bed, leaving the apartment before the little chow chow even noticed. 

Shigeru felt a bit bad for leaving Mochi but he'd be back in an hour or two and he didn't leave her alone this long normally. So, Shigeru figured that he could cut himself some slack. Once out of the apartment he texted Iwaizumi and Oikawa to let them know he was on his way. Shigeru jogged to the bus stop giving up his seat to an elderly woman. He was glad he decided to wear his coach jacket, originally he had done it to show off a bit to his senpai, but now it was protecting him from the nippy weather. The older woman started to talk to Shigeru, most of it was pleasant and helped the time pass but he could've done without the lecture on wearing shorts in autumn. When the bus came Shigeru eagerly hopped in followed by the old woman, the old woman sat in the nearest seat while Shigeru stood holding onto a handle above his head. Shigeru had to wait for three stops than said his goodbyes to the old woman before running off toward the direction of the gym. It was a five minute jog, as the sun started to set, the moon high and bright in the sky casting silvery light over everything. Finally Shigeru arrived at the gym, he saw two figures standing outside the small gym. Shigeru slowed to a stop in front of them before Oikawa threw his arms around Shigeru patting him hard on the back.  
"Coach- san how have you been?!" Shigeru rolls his eyes but smiles at the nickname, "I've been good Oikawa-san," Shigeru turns and nods to Iwaizumi. Iwaizumi smiles warmly and ruffles Shigeru's hair. "It's good to see you."  
"Yes, yes, we're all very excited to see Shi-chan, can we please go inside now?" Oikawa whines hopping from foot to foot, he's breathing onto his hands and despite how ridiculous he acts he still looks devastatingly handsome in the moonlight. Shigeru tries to fight off a pout, the whole thing seems extremely unfair. Iwaizumi roughly takes Oikawa's hand and pulls him inside the gym, muttering something that sounds suspiciously like, "what a giant baby." Oikawa doesn't seem too upset and in fact looks quite smug as he says, "Aw Iwa-chan, you don't need an excuse to hold my hand." Rather than respond with hitting or yelling Iwaizumi turns an impressive shade of red while leading them into the court. Shigeru can't hold back the giggles as he hears Iwaizumi once again scold Oikawa for his "shitty personality," despite the fact they're still holding hands. The whole scene is still new and yet extremely nostalgic. He only wishes that the rest of the team could be there, but no doubt Oikawa's planning on getting a party together. So for now Shigeru basks in the familiarity and warmth of his friends company, their bickering a soundtrack even as all three boys pull volleyballs out of their gym bags. The three boys chuckle and begin stretching and start with light practicing Shigeru and Oikawa both taking turns serving to Iwaizumi.  
"So Oikawa how are we going to play?"  
Oikawa looks at Shigeru and grins, "Oh well we're waiting on Iwaizumi's kohai, seems he's running a bit late." Just then the door bursts open, the sound all the more loud with the court's echo. All three men turn to look toward the doors where a familiar man stands his scowl looking like murder. He wears a short sleeved shirt a jarring red against his tanned skin and bleached- yellow hair. He wears baggy shorts and a steady glare that slowly scans the room, before that glare lands and sticks to Shigeru.  
"What the hell are you doing here?"  
Shigeru can't stop his knee- jerk reaction, he rests the volleyball against one hip and a dangerous smirk spreads on his lips, "Came here to win."  
Oikawa grins, "Is that so? Coach-san, I had no idea you knew Mad dog-chan."  
Kyoutani turns his glare on Oikawa, "I think your nicknames have gotten worse." Oikawa decides to ignore Kyoutani's comment ducking under the net, and joining Kyoutani on the other side. Kyoutani seems to throw a wary glance to Oikawa before turning to look at Shigeru, his gaze so intense that Shigeru finds he can't look away. Oikawa adorns his famous intimidating smile, his chin tilted high in the air a hand on his hip as he looks at Shigeru, looking every bit the "Grand King" he remembers leading their team. His eyes turn towards Iwaizumi and light up, his smile somehow growing ever more sharp, "try not to be too upset when you lose Iwa-chan."  
Iwaizumi chuckles, but his eyes are alight with excitement, glued to Oikawa as they slowly size him up, "I can't wait to wipe that stupid grin off your face."  
  
"Ooooh so scary Iwa-chan!" Kyoutani doesn't bother with smack talk just leveling Shigeru and Iwaizumi with glares as he rolls his shoulders.  
"Careful Kyouken! You need to stretch first." Kyoutani wrinkles his nose at the nickname but shakes his head "stretched before I got here," he barks holding his hand opening while still looking at the players across the net. Oikawa shrugs and tosses the volleyball to Kyoutani who easily catches it one handed before getting in position to serve. Shigeru blinks in surprise, he had expected Oikawa to serve first. Oikawa always took these things seriously and his senpia's serve was the deadliest Shigeru's ever seen. When Shigeru turned to look at Iwaizumi he saw him taking it seriously, his eyebrows furrowed as he prepared himself to receive. Shigeru stood closer to the net so that maybe, if he is quick enough he might be able to block or slow the ball's movement. Kyoutani threw the ball into the air and then ran up his body filled with tension as he sprang up into the air, then all at once the tension snapped all the built up power in his muscles releasing. Shigeru barely saw the ball before it had landed on the floor on his side. Iwaizumi had managed to reach the ball but the ball bounced off wildly to the wall. Shigeru narrowed his eyes at Kyoutani. His shirt had risen a bit from the impact of his serve, enough to reveal the deep v of his abdominal muscles as they disappeared beneath the stupid basketball shorts. The spring motion of his body seemed to be centered around Kyoutani's abdominal muscles. Kyoutani's abdominal and back muscles must be intense... Shigeru shook the thought out of his head, and looked up at Kyoutani's face where a delighted, almost boyish grin graced his face. Most people managed to look softer when they smiled, Shigeru had even caught a soft smile or two on Kyoutani, this smile was bright. It wasn't strictly the most charming or even the biggest he'd seen but that grin held so much energy.  
"Mad dog-chan that was great!" Kyoutani's eyes widened before he scratched his head and nodded once. Shigeru felt himself growing frustrated, would it kill Kyoutani to say thank you? Oikawa though, didn't seem to mind at all just grabbed the ball Iwaizumi lobbed over the net and spun the ball in his hand. Both Iwaizumi and Shigeru tensed up preparing themselves for the serve. Oikawa tossed the ball into the air, ran, and sprung up to meet it. Shigeru still could hear the famous "oooooooolllee," that always accompanied his serves. Oikawa was all smooth movement and practiced perfection, the ball slapped his hand with incredible force. The ball zoomed fast, too fast to even see before it was too late. 

Iwaizumi grunted in irritation, but their was also a hint of pride there as he eyed Oikawa.  
"Are you impressed yet Iwa-chan? Are you falling for me all over again?" Iwaizumi clicked his tongue his eyes narrowing at his partner, "You realize you'll be Iwa-chan soon too right?" Oikawa gasped, his cheeks glowing bright red, he brought his left hand to his mouth, coincidentally the hand with the simple silver band. The three other boys watched Oikawa turn into a tomato as Iwaizumi chuckled sheepishly and scratched his head.  
"Oh yeah that's part of why we came home, I'm marrying this idiot." Shigeru smiled happily at Oikawa, who had been pouting but his eyes were absolutely sparkling. Remnants of the flush before still leaving his face a pleasant pink, Oikawa looked the picture of happiness and Shigeru could feel his own happiness swell to meet it. Iwaizumi was less obvious but Shigeru had known him long enough, besides his love for Shigeru's senpai was so deep and so obvious that anyone could tell. They were best friends all their lives, they were competitors, and they waited far too long to become lovers. A small part of Shigeru felt envious because as much as he thought soulmates were bullshit Oikawa Tooru and Iwaizumi Hajime seemed to break all the rules. They beat all the odds, they became olympians, they were going to be married, they were two parts of one whole. Everything about them was extraordinary and Shigeru couldn't help but wonder what that would feel like. But, most likely Shigeru would never experience a love built of galaxies and miracles, Shigeru wasn't made of the stuff.  
"You'd be amazed at how quickly being an Olympian gets old, all you really need is one gold medal," Oikawa shamelessly bragged.  
Iwaizumi rolled his eyes and grumbled, "Why am I marrying you again?" Kyoutani rolled his eyes, "You guys are gross, lets just play the fuckin' game." Everyone seemed to go with the change of plans, though Shigeru found his tone unnecessarily rude. They played a two on two, which as it turns out is a vastly different game then 3 on 3. Shigeru's breaths came out in gasps as he pushed himself to keep up with two fricking Olympians and an animal. He was playing with people who were especially talented, which at this point was expected being Olympians and all but Kyoutani was surprisingly strong, Shigeru couldn't help but watch him. He was intense in everything he did, and Oikawa, who could bring out the best in anyone seemed to find Kyoutani hard to control. He also didn't seem to know how to balance his energy giving every receive, spike, and serve one hundred and ten percent, Shigeru admired that, even while finding it wasteful and stupid. After awhile though it was obvious that they couldn't keep up, Shigeru ducking out first. Kyoutani sat himself down after an impressively long time, grabbing his gym bag, and sucking down a water. Shigeru watched, his eyes catching the motion of his adams apple bobbing as he gulped down his water. There was a flush high on his cheeks from the exercise, his eyes were closed, Shigeru could count his eyelashes. Not that he would. 

Kyoutani finished drinking from his bottle, a stray drop of water dripping down his chin before he wiped it away with his forearm. He caught Shigeru's eyes on him but then huffed and looked away. Fucking rude.  
"You know they might be at it for awhile," Shigeru said motioning to Oikawa and Iwaizumi still practicing on the gym, the former tossing to the latter. "I didn't say shit, You know you're really combative," Kyoutani said as he sat down a few feet from Shigeru.  
"Can you spell that for us please?" Shigeru's mouth helped answer before Shigeru's brain could weigh in. Kyoutani's snapped his head around and glared at Shigeru, his eyes burning into Shigeru's.  
"Sorry you just hit all my asshole buttons," Shigeru replied sheepishly a fake smile on his face. He lifted the water bottle to his own lips drinking slowly and savoring the water, even if it was room temperature.  
"I think you're just an asshole," the other boy responded gruffly. Shigeru chocked down his drink and than glared at Kyoutani, "You're the asshole, who treats their elders that way?!" Suddenly there was a series of claps that tore the arguing men's eyes from one another. They both looked up to a smiling Oikawa, an unimpressed looking Iwaizumi on his tail.  
"Now, now I thought you boys were friends! Come on, lets go to the convenience store and pick up some drinks and some snacks, we can hang out at our place.

******

All four men had gathered their things and left the gym. The night air was refreshingly cool against Shigeru's overheated skin and even Kyoutani seemed to relax a little. Most of the silence was eaten up by the engaged couples endless bickering. Meanwhile Shigeru and Kyoutani were silent, at first the silence was more awkward but as their walk continued they both seemed to completely relax. Shigeru couldn't help but peek over to the man next to him. 

Kyoutani hadn't noticed the eyes on him yet, his breaths came steadily out of his mouth creating little puffs of smoke in the frigid air, the constant puffs reminding Shigeru a bit of a dragon. The night sky provided a curious backdrop, mainly because it was hard to tell which was more attention-grabbing, the stars or Kyoutani. It wasn't because Kyoutani was beautiful, certainly not in a traditional sense, but there was something about his quiet intensity that, whether the man liked it or not was impossible to ignore. Unfortunately Kyoutani looked over and locked eyes with Shigeru.  
"What?" Kyoutani snapped, rather rudely.  
"Why are you such an asshole? That's my first question by the way." Kyoutani's eyebrows furrowed and his scowl deepend, but before he could say something Oikawa's voice cut in.  
"First question?" Oikawa inquired a dangerous glint to his eye.  
"He owes me a game of ten questions."  
"Oh, is that so," Oikawa grinned rather proudly, abandoning his fiancé to wrap an arm around Shigeru's shoulder, "how did you manage that?" Shigeru shrugged, playing at nonchalance and fighting a smile, "I have my ways." Shigeru absolutely delighted in his former captains whining and begging, having always been a bit of a sucker for praise. There was a tongue-click of annoyance, and at first Shigeru had assumed it was Iwaizumi but instead of his steady rumble Shigeru heard Kyoutani's rough voice.  
"Ima had gotten away from Yachi while she was sick. Yahaba found her at the park and looked after her. Then dropped her off at my place and made demands. Shigeru huffed at Kyoutani's poor retelling but it did cover all the basics, so he more or less let it go. The convenience store came into view, the bright lights acting as a beacon. 

The boy's filed in accompanied by the sound of the automated bell beeping. They all went into different aisles catching glimpses of the others as they went by. Though every man in there knew where they would find Oikawa, and that was wherever the hell the milkbread was. Shigeru, Oikawa, and Iwaizumi had all gathered at the register, with beer, sake, and an inadvisable amount of milkbread. Shigeru scanned the small convenience store and found Kyoutani, he had gathered up a bunch of plain noodles and basic cooking ingredients. But he was staring at the kara age kun with a weird expression.  
"You can get that you know..." Kyoutani turned and looked at Shigeru than nodded and grabbed the little box of chicken. Then they headed to the counter together. Normally, they wouldn't be able to buy alcohol at this time but Oikawa was pretty good at working people possibly better than he'd ever been and the poor clerk had really never stood a chance. So the men finished their transaction and left with their haul. It went unsaid but somehow there was a weightlessness in the air, a recklessness that sparked the night and made them all feel young and stupid again.  
"You know you never answered my first question," Shigeru said turning to the striped-haired man beside him. "Hmm?" Kyoutani responded his eyes wide and innocent (at least as much as wide and innocent as his eyes could be) his face stuffed with fried chicken. The whole scene was pretty ridiculous and it actually reminded Shigeru of Ima a bit.  
Shigeru chuckled but continued, "You know why your an asshole?" Kyoutani huffed but he seemed to be fighting back a smile, suddenly Iwaizumi shoved Kyoutani's head down and ruffled his short hair.  
"That's gonna take a long time to answer," before he stole a piece of chicken and ran off.  
"Hey asshole!" Kyoutani barked out a short laugh before chasing after his senpai. Shigeru merely shook his head as he watched them go, a bit envious of their seemingly unlimited energy.  
"Hey your gonna shake up the beer!" Oikawa hollered to no avail but then smiled indulgently and turned to Shigeru, "come on let's go." Shigeru followed after his own senpai, a similar grin stretching over his own face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so, so, sorry that this took soooo long! Oh my god. If you're still reading thank you so much!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys drink, get silly, and open up a bit.

The foursome make their way back to the apartment, their arms full of alcohol and snacks. Kyoutani and Iwaizumi are rough-housing as Oikawa complains about possible collateral damage. Iwaizumi huffs but stops and passes out drinks, him and Shigeru drinking beer while Oikawa and Kyoutani drink sake. Kyoutani then grabs the gas station bag with his purchases and starts going through the kitchen. He seems pretty familiar with it, he opens a bottom cabinet procuring a decently large pot and turns on one of the burners. Before he proceeds any further Kyoutani downs his glass of sake, most likely to free up his hands. Shigeru being the kind soul he is, grabs the newly empty cup and fills it again, setting it beside Kyoutani. "Did you poison this?"  
Shigeru rolls his eyes, "of course not, maybe I'm just being nice."  
Kyoutani snorts at that, bringing the drink to his lips, sipping it, before turning back to the pot filling it with some kind of stock .  
"I told you I want answers," Shigeru says perching himself on the counter sitting beside the stove, close enough that Kyoutani occasionally brushes him while preparing food. "So answer my first question."  
Kyoutani thinks for a second then spares Shigeru a withering glance "Why am I an asshole?"  
"Yeah," Shigeru chirps, lazily kicking his legs in the empty air and nursing his beer.  
"Probably because you are."

Shigeru huffs, of course he that isn't what he REALLY wants to ask. What he really wants to ask is: How Kyoutani managed to impregnate the most beautiful woman Shigeru's ever seen, How Kyoutani feels about Ima's mother dating a woman, how they even met. Shigeru knows these are personal questions and he suspects it will take a few more glasses before Kyoutani really gives up anything good so for now he has to think of another easy question.  
"Why did you become a veterinarian?" Kyoutani's shoulders shrug, the motion catching Shigeru's attention and making him finish off the last of his beer.  
I like animals and they like me," Is Kyoutani's reply which makes Shigeru huff, Kyoutani growls and snaps his head around at Shigeru. "Well what the fuck did you expect? Why are you asking me so many damn questions?" Kyoutani takes a good swig of his sake and Shigeru grabs another beer wondering to himself exactly how awful he'll feel in the morning.  
"This is my payment for watching your daughter," Shigeru lilts his voice just on the wrong side of sweet. Kyoutani wrinkles his nose and stalks off to go refill his glass with sake, Shigeru leans over and smells what's cooking in the pot. Whatever it is it smells good and Shigeru's stomach grumbles in agreement. Shigeru hears movement in the kitchen and throws out his next question, "What are you making?"  
"Oh well I'm not making anything!"A higher than expected voice answers. Shigeru looks up to see Oikawa walking over to him his hair mussed up and a bruise forming on his neck.  
  
"Ugh, gross," Shigeru fake gags.  
Oikawa doesn't really seem to mind Shigeru's comments and in fact strides over to his side joining Shigeru on the counter. Both men are cramped, their lanky figures awkwardly occupying the limited space. "Jealousy is an ugly thing Shi-chan, careful or you'll end up like my Iwa-chan."  
Kyoutani comes back in with a full glass, he immediately takes a full swig once he catches both pretty boys sitting together. Yahaba despite his teasing still treating Oikawa with a level of reverence that Kyoutani had never quite managed.  
"Kyouken-chan! I didn't know you could cook! Looks like old dogs can learn new tricks!"  
It's than that Iwaizumi walks into the room looking equally disheveled, lips bruised and spiky hair somehow even more so. He strolls over and slaps his fiancée upside the head, the lanky man whining in return.  
"Knock it off Shittykawa"  
  
"You shouldn't hit your husband Iwa-chan! That's a crime!"  
  
"You aren't my husband yet, Iwa-chan," Iwaizumi bellows, enjoying the blush that sets across his fiance's face. Than unable to resist kisses both of Oikawa's rosey cheeks.  
Shigeru permits a groan to slip, muttering "damn couples," while quickly finishing off his beer. He jumps surprised when Kyoutani snaps,  
"Just get a fucking room!"  
Though Shigeru has to admit he entirely empathizes with the sentiment. 

By the time Kyoutani finishes the noodles they are all already decently buzzed, having split up into two groups of two. Oikawa and Shigeru trade gossip, than discussing volleyball and strategy. Shigeru tried to soak in every bit of advice and insight Oikawa offered, but his attention was somewhat divided. Partly this was due to the beers coursing through his veins, it'd been awhile since he'd allowed himself to indulge like this, and a drunken mind was never really an attentive one. That being said, the other reason was Shigeru couldn't seem to stop watching Kyoutani's interactions with Iwazumi. While Shigeru knew Iwazumi as a great guy and a much needed pillar of sanity for Oikawa, Shigeru wasn't as close to the man himself. This may have partially been due to the fact that Iwazumi was forever in Shigeru's head as "Oikawa's boyfriend" and now as "Oikawa's fiancee" himself and Iwazumi sharing a mutual respect for one another that never really went much further. Kyoutani didn't treat Iwazumi much like someone would a senpai, Kyoutani didn’t seem to hold any sort of reverence for anyone's station. There was a difference, less tightness in his shoulders, his eyebrows pulled into the almost relaxed shape of normal people's. The conversation seemed to flow easier, though Kyoutani still wasn't talking much. Iwazumi, most definitely more affected than everyone else had an arm wrapped around Kyoutani's shoulder. Shigeru wondered how toned his shoulders were, wondered how much more muscular Kyotani was than him. He shook his head out of the thought but apparently Shigeru had spent long enough day dreaming that the table was set and Oikawa was giving him a very cold calculated stare. Shigeru ignored it and sat himself down while Iwazumi passed plates back and forth and Kyoutani ladeled them. Oikawa leering at his boyfriend and continually calling over "the waiter." Usually, Iwazumi wouldn't indulge Oikawa but once Iwazumi was drunk he was completely emotionally which meant that he didn't put any pretense into spoiling Oikawa, or going along with his whims. As for PDA... well they both currently have their tongues down one another's throats. Shigeru doesn’t even have his bowl yet, but just before he gets up there is a bowl placed in front of him. When he looks up he sees Kyoutani who honestly appears to be running on auto- pilot. But Shigeru isn't ungrateful, he's not above sending up a quick thank you up to the gods, and so he does. Small miracles and all that. Shigeru eats and of course it's good, Kyoutani Kentarou seems to be perfect at anything he puts genuine effort into. It's irritating. But than Shigeru thinks of his third and fourth questions.  
"You and Iwazumi-san seem close, what's your relationship like?"  
Kyoutani stops before he gets to take a bite of any noodles, his body posture tensing up slightly. Kyoutani had either forgotten about the game of ten questions entirely or had thought Shigeru had. Admittedly Shigeru had forgotten for a bit but he is nothing if not persistent, and so the game continues on.  
Kyoutani out of spite or, more unlikely, taking time to figure out what he's going to say proceeds to shove the noodles in his mouth and chew slowly, meaning Shigeru has to wait until Kyoutani has completely finished his mouthful. Kyoutani looks over to Iwazumi, seeing if the other man will answer, but Oikawa and Iwazumi are in their own little world getting rapidly drunker and more affectionate, cuddling so aggressively that it's hard to tell where one starts and another begins. Kyoutani grimaces and so does Shigeru.  
"I met Iwazumi in high school, and he seemed strong... like a good ace and shit.... so I challenged him to a bunch of stuff, to races and arm wrestling to different sports. But he beat me at all of it. So I decided that I wanted to be like him."  
Shigeru doesn't really know if that fully answers his question but he feels merciful, so he won't make Kyoutani spill exactly what Iwazumi means to him. Their relationship seems almost brotherly and it's disarmingly sweet. Besides Shigeru can't imagine how embarrassed he'd be if the roles were reversed. Not that Kyoutani would take enough interest to ask about Shigeru, and that thought sours his mood and so he drowns it by finishing off his beer. Before Shieru can ask whatever that fourth question was going to be Oikawa interrupts.  
"Our dear Mad dog used to have an adorable crush on my Iwa-chan."  
The whole room seems to still at that statement, Oikawa in his drunk state not realizing the gravity of his statement. Kyoutani was hunched into himself defensively, like he'd just been hit. Iwazumi pushed Oikawa off his lap, got up and walked out of the room. Shigeru was just blinking rapidly, unable to completely process that statement. Oikawa followed after Iwazumi, calling for him followed by a hushed argument Shigeru couldn't quite make out and didn’t really care to. Shigeru's own brain was still trying to process what this all meant, but as usual Shigeru's mouth seemed to have a much easier time catching up.  
"You're bisexual?"  
Shigeru is kicking himself, where's his usual tact, his easy going charisma? If it were anyone else across from him he knows he would've been much more sensitive, but here he is fucking that up again. What is it about Kyoutani that makes him behave this way.  
"No."  
  
"So you're gay?" Shigeru asks unsurely.  
Kyoutani glances at him and straightens his back, his eyes filling back up with their usual challenging intensity, "Got a problem with that?" Shigeru smiles shaking his head, "I used to have a crush on my senpai too."  
"Him?" Kyoutani asks motioning by jerking his head towards the other room.  
"I was young back than," Shigeru offered with a smile. "Rude Shi-chan!" Oikawa shouted as he entered the room, Iwazumi pushing him from behind. "There were many adoring fans who wanted to be with me."  
"Yeah, but I should've known better."  
That seemed to surprise a chuckle out of both Iwazumi and Kyoutani and Shigeru couldn’t help but feel a swell of pride at having caused the tense atmosphere to relax a bit. Oikawa smiled good naturedly before turning to Kyoutani.  
"I'm.... I'm sorry Kyoutani," Oikawa bowed, "I shouldn't have blurted that out like that."  
  
Kyoutani looked at Oikawa, his expression completely neutral. "No you shouldn't have."  
Oikawa winces a bit at that.  
"but it's fine."  


Everyone finishes their noodles and the tense atmosphere completely breaks, giving way to more drinking, laughing, and general jovial behavior. Kyoutani seems to relax more with every glass of sake he drains and Shigeru wonders if he's used to drinking. If Kypoutani was one of those kids who were being handed sake under the table at family functions from a young age. No doubt the alcohol was affecting Kyoutani, his smiles and laughs came easier and there was a blush high in his cheeks but Shigeru is sure he'd already be vomiting if he was drinking the same amount. Shigeru's face feels aflame and the world feels fuzzy and warm. He doesn't feel out of control but he does feel tension draining from his body, tension Shigeru wasn't even aware of. Shigeru felt a press of cold water to his cheek jarring him out of his thoughts. When he looked up he saw Oikawa looking down at him, a knowing smile curling his lips.  
"You're staring Shi-chan."  
Shigeru grabbed the water out of his senpai's hands and chugged it down, feeling a bit more steady afterwards. He proceeded to ignore his senpai's totally unwarranted and entirely unnecessary commentary by saying just loudly enough, "We should play a game." All three other boys snap to attention at the idea and they all file into the living room, Oikawa insisting on picking the game. They should've known better really, because Oikawa picks twister.  
Of course he picks fucking Twister.  
Somehow all four boys agree on the game, taking off their shoes and taking their positions by the mat. The game starts slow, Shigeru always forgets that part, where most everyone only has one appendage on the mat. The game quickly escalates and they all become a tangle of entwined limbs. It's a complete mess and now everyone's sweating and pretending like it's just a fun game even as their collective competitive spirit escalates. Oikawa is trying to goad people into arguments, hoping they end up spending their energy on arguing with Oikawa instead of balancing their bodies. What Oikawa doesn't expect is Iwazumi to betray him by the sixth or seventh turn. Iwazumi grows sick of Oikawa's incessant chattering and goes limp taking out Oikawa with most of his bodyweight. Now there are only two, Shigeru and Kyoutani. The competition doesn't die down and if anything it escalates, as both boys muscles strain and they allow their words to antagonize one another. As they struggle and fight to be the winner of this stupid drunken game, the display seems more savage and primal than anything that could be expected of such a lighthearted game. They both curse and insult each other, both informing the other that they should just quit. Oikawa seems endlessly amused as Iwazumi quietly watches wrapping his arms around his fiancee's waist and pulling him onto the couch and into his lap. They don't know how long the game goes on but the mats starting to get slippery, Oikawa and Iwazumi are now watching some alien movie on the couch and Shigeru is wondering why he is getting like this. They are completely inseparable now, at least physically. Shigeru can smell his sweat, a heady scent he should find gross but doesn't. He can feel the firm muscle shaking against his own similarly quaking body.  
"Would you spin the fucking wheel already?" Shigeru grunts irritably.  
Kyoutani grunts but manages to flick the wheel, "You know," Kyoutani pants, close enough that he can feel Kyoutani's breath against his skin, "you only have one question left?" Shigeru jumps surprised causing both boys to fall, Kyoutani on top of Shigeru. While playing the glame Shigeru completely forgot about ten questions and wasted about four or five just insulting Kyoutani.  
_"Would you kindly move your fat ass? Can't you see, that's left hand red Kyoutani?! Why won't you just give up already? Would you spin the fucking wheel already?"_  
Shit. Shigeru really had wasted a bunch of questions. Kyoutani heaves his body off of Shigeru's and despite the uncomfortableness of the position Shigeru finds himself missing the contact once it's gone. Kyoutani doesn't get up though, he's seemingly out of energy lying on the mat next to Kyoutani. For awhile they both just pant on the ground.  
Than Kyoutani takes a deep breath and turns to Shigeru, "What's your last question?"  
Shigeru bites his lip and doesn't meet Kyoutani's eyes, instead staring at the ceiling of Oikawa and Iwazumi's shared apartment. He knows the question he's been dying to ask it, but now he's hesitating, does he really have a right to ask?  
"Just ask the fucking question Yahaba."  
  
"If you and Kiyoko are both gay how did Ima come about?"  
It's out there he did it.  
Kyoutani lets out a hiss of air, and runs a hand through his hair, "I don't think I can tell you, it's not really my story to tell... I'll have Kiyoko tell you though."  
  
"...that's such a cop out."  
Kyoutani huffs and elbows Shigeru's side half-heartedly, "I really don't feel comfortable telling you... but I do owe you so I'll talk to Kiyoko, she wants to meet you anyway."  
Shigeru turns to Kyoutani and scrunches his eyebrows, "She does?"  
"Yeah Ima talks about you."  
Shigeru can't help but grin at that, "she does?"  
"I thought we were done with the ten questions... but yeah, she does."  
Shigeru is overwhelmed with the urge to scoop the little girl up and hug her til she can't breathe, it's an entirely foreign feeling but she finds the girl and her father bring out strange reactions in him that Shigeru can't really explain to himself.  
"Besides it will give you an excuse to talk to Kiyoko right?"  
Shigeru blinks, "huh?"  
"Well you have a thing for her don't you?"  
Shigeru ponders that for a moment, younger Shigeru would've said yes instantly because Shigeru was a little girl crazy, (boy crazy too but that takes more time to come to terms with)  
"I think she's too put together for me."  
Kyoutani looks at him and raises an eyebrow.  
Shigeru grins sharply, "I prefer more of a challenge."  
Kyoutani blinks for a bit than points a thumb at the direction of the couch, "Then why did you like him?"  
It takes a moment to register but than Shigeru's guffawing, Iwazumi seems to be in no better of a state, and Kyoutani starts laughing too. Shigeru's cheeks are on fire, his gut starts hurting from laughing too hard, breathing's a challenge and tears are streaming down his face. The joke is made all the more funny by Oikawa's horrible shrieking, talking about how horrible everyone is to him. Shigeru turns to Kyoutani, who is red in the face from liquor, physical exertion and laughing, he looks free and boyish, his nose is wrinkling slightly, like a bunnies, and Shigeru feels his laughter waning, a new feeling tugging at his gut, he realizes he might want to know a lot more about the man next to him. He wants the answers to a lot more than ten questions.


End file.
